Family with small child killed in Myawaddy had links to BGF

A couple connected to the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) were shot dead along with their child in downtown Myawaddy, Karen State last Wednesday, according to locals and BGF sources. A gunman killed the parents and child, who was under three years old, at a massage parlour they operated in the town’s Ward 4 at around 8pm that evening, according to a local woman. “They ran a massage parlour named Thant Zin. The gunman, who was in plain clothes, shot all three family members: the man was hit once in the chest, the woman twice, and their son who was two years and nine months old was hit with four bullets and died instantly,” she said. She added that immediately after the shooting, the gunman ran one block before getting into a getaway car, which then fled the scene. The parents were reportedly civilians connected to the Karen BGF. The Karen BGF splintered from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)—a long-established opponent of the military—in the 1990s, operating independently for some years. After concluding a ceasefire with the group, the military incorporated it into its command structure as a border guard force in 2009. “The deceased man worked for a senior official in Military Region 4,” BGF Lieutenant-Colonel Naing Maung Zaw told Myanmar Now, referring to a territorial subcommand of the BGF. “Security duties are conducted across the town, and since this is a border area, there are many firearms,” he added. “We aim not to burden civilians living peacefully, which is why we have always acted cautiously. However, in this case opportunists took advantage.” The BGF, which oversees security in Myawaddy, has launched an investigation to identify the gunman, and will take severe action once he is found, the Naing Maung Zaw continued. Last month, a 45-year-old man was found dead after he verbally abused a Ward 4 administrator in Myawaddy and armed men detained him. Local media outlet Myawaddy & Maesot Media reported that the man had been arrested by members of the KNLA-Peace Council or KPC—an armed group observing a peace agreement with the Myanmar junta and not to be confused with the KNLA—and had died in their custody. According to the local woman who spoke with Myanmar Now, killings of civilians have occurred frequently in Myawaddy since last year, when the KNLA—an armed wing of the Karen National Union—clashed with the military in the town. “These incidents have been occurring for a while, though they weren’t reported on social media and happened quietly. Bodies keep appearing, the killers remain unidentified, and people are living in fear,” she said. During the clashes of April 2024, KNU-commanded fighters seized an infantry battalion base from the junta and attacked army troops at one of Myawaddy’s border bridges into Mae Sot, Thailand. Although the Karen BGF did not initially assist the military in defending the town, the group later assisted the army in reoccupying the lost infantry battalion base when the KNU-led fighters withdrew, abruptly and seemingly without prompting. Fighters under the KNU’s command are still in control of Thin Gan Nyi Naung village west of Myawaddy and the surrounding countryside. Senior KNU sources said that the military is now approaching the western outskirts of Myawaddy in three columns. “They are carrying out what we call a ‘leech’ operation, advancing slowly inch by inch,” one KNU commander said. “They’re also clashing directly with our forces, and I’ve heard they have tools to repair bridges along the way.”

Family with small child killed in Myawaddy had links to BGF

After a family of three was shot dead in the Thailand-Myanmar border town, a high-ranking Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) officer confirmed their ties to a Karen BGF official

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