Weekly Analysis: Military Junta Deploys Violence at Checkpoints While Continuing to Extort Travellers in Southeastern Burma

May 12, 2025

The military junta has used a variety of corrupt and deceitful tactics to intimidate local civilians in Burma. Across targeted areas of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), in Mon State, Karen State and the Tanintharyi Region, there remain heightened uncertainties at junta-backed checkpoints.

On May 1, 2025, junta troops stationed near the entrance of Sein Bon village in Yebyu Township, Tanintharyi Region, launched a surprise attack on a passing vehicle. The vehicle was ambushed by soldiers who had been lying in wait. The gunfire resulted in the deaths of three men travelling in the car. The attack occurred near the entrance to Sein Bon village, part of the Nat Kyi Sin village tract. The victims were identified as Ko Hla Myint, 40, from Phya-thone-Zu village; an unidentified man believed to be around 30 years old from Thatkhwe 4; and another man, aged 35, from Sein Bon village. All three were killed at the scene.

The military later asserted that the victims were members of a local armed resistance group, justifying the assault as a strike against enemy combatants. However, this assertion has not been verified, and eyewitnesses from the community strongly maintain that the men were civilians traveling peacefully.

In a separate but related incident on the same day, junta forces arrested a woman who had been temporarily displaced from her home in Kan Bauk village and was sheltering near Nat Kyi Sin village, close to Sein Bon.

“She’s probably around 30 years old,” said a local source. “They said they needed to question her and took her away. She’s being detained and interrogated at a center run by the Mawrawaddy Naval Command. She hasn’t been released yet.” Since the third week of April, military presence has intensified across the Min Thar and Nat Kyi Sin village tracts. Junta troops have been conducting patrols, setting up hidden positions, and expanding their operations, which contributes to growing fear and instability across the region. As a result, more than 800 villagers from at least five communities in the Nat Kyi Sin area have fled their homes, becoming internally displaced persons. Local humanitarian support groups are actively working to locate and assist these vulnerable individuals.

Overview of Main Cases

• Child Killed, Another Injured in Junta Shelling Following Checkpoint Attack in Dawei
On May 7, a tragic incident unfolded in Shamma Twin village, Dawei District, after junta troops launched artillery attacks in response to an earlier attack on a military checkpoint. A 10-year-old boy was killed, and an 8-year-old girl was injured when an artillery shell struck a house, according to local sources.

• Brutal Assault on Political Prisoners Inside Hpa-An Taungkalay Prison Raises Alarm on Systematic Abuse and Impunity
On April 30, 2025, two political prisoners—Ko Kyaw Kyaw Myint, serving a 15-year sentence, and Ko Min Thu Soe, serving a 4-year sentence—were severely beaten by a group of criminal inmates inside Hpa-An’s Taungkalay Prison, Kayin State. The attack took place in full view of prison authorities and is part of a growing pattern of violence targeting political detainees under the current military junta’s prison system.

• IDPs in Southern Burma Face Compounding Crises Amid Junta Attacks
In northern Tanintharyi Region’s Yebyu Township, nearly 800 civilians from Min Thar village tract have been displaced for over two weeks. After fleeing their homes to escape fierce clashes and junta airstrikes, these families now face a second wave of suffering—food shortages, lack of clean water, and the spread of disease.

• Junta Extorts Travelers Holding Magway or Sagaing ID Cards in Mon State
Security forces under the military junta stationed at town entrances and exits in Mon State are extorting travelers—particularly those carrying ID cards from Magway and Sagaing Regions. According to local sources, travelers without official recommendation letters from local authorities are being forced to pay bribes ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 MMK per person.

• Fuel Transport Ban in Dawei Deepens Hardship for Locals Amid Ongoing Military Restrictions
According to local fuel distributors, the military junta has banned fuel transport from Dawei town to surrounding areas since April 24, 2025. This sudden restriction has caused fuel shortages and rising prices, making daily life increasingly difficult for residents in rural townships. Fuel sellers reported that the junta ordered stations along Kamnar Road in Dawei town not to sell fuel to customers from other townships.