Junta Burns Down 73 Civilian Homes in Kyauk Hlay Karr Village, Tha Yet Chaung Township

October 2, 2025

HURFOM: At least 73 homes were destroyed after junta troops set fire to Kyauk Hlay Karr village, Tha Yet Chaung Township, Dawei District.

According to a statement released by the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 4, Department of Public Relations and Information, the arson attack followed clashes between junta troops advancing from Uttu village towards Inn Pyar and Kyauk Hlay Karr villages and resistance forces on September 29 and 30.

“After the fighting broke out, they burned the houses. The soldiers are torching one village after another,” said a resident who witnessed the destruction.

The KNU confirmed that at 7 a.m. on September 30, KNLA Battalion 12 under Brigade 4, together with allied resistance groups, launched an ambush on junta forces advancing deeper into northern Tha Yet Chaung Township near Kyauk Hlay Karr. In retaliation, the junta responded with collective punishment by setting fire to 73 houses in the village, despite no civilians being involved in the battle.

The arson was carried out by a joint military column made up of junta battalions 403, 404, and 405.

The attacks are part of a wider pattern of deliberate destruction of civilian property across Tha Yet Chaung. On August 17, troops burned down one house and a car in Uttu village. Days later, on August 22, 19 homes were torched in Moe Shwe Kone village, followed by 58 houses in Saw Phyar on August 25. On September 7, more than 30 homes in Yan Taung and eight homes in Thin Kyun were also set ablaze.

Once again, the junta’s actions demonstrate a strategy of terror against communities by systematically targeting villages, burning homes, and displacing families who are already living under constant threat.

A former village committee member, now displaced with his family in Tha Yet Chaung, explained the junta’s strategy:

“The military has made Dawei District a primary target. They aim to crush all resistance before the election period so they can claim total control. They employ two approaches: in areas where they want to establish polling stations, they exert pressure with troops and weapons until they can gain control.

But in places they cannot fully control, they destroy everything. They kill people, torch entire villages, and wipe out livelihoods so no one can remain. It is unbelievably cruel. In the two months leading up to their sham election, we fear how many more human rights violations they will commit.”

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News