Gunshot from Burmese soldier in Kyauk Kadin alarms villagers

August 16, 2013

HURFOM: After a single shot was allegedly fired by a Burmese soldier at a construction worker in Kyauk Kadin, residents reported staying close to home and avoiding travel to their plantation jobs due to the brief but violent outburst. Local people were dismayed by the sound they said they had not heard since the country initiated a series of reforms and the union government signed ceasefire agreements with local armed ethnic groups.

Eyewitnesses alleged that a Burmese soldier from either Light Infantry Battalion No. 273 or No. 282, the two small military bases located near their village in Yebyu Township of the Tenasserim Region, fired once and missed the young laborer who was talking on his mobile phone at 11pm on August 10. One observer estimated the targeted man to be around 30 years old and said he was likely suspected of being an informant for a local Mon splinter group.

“He was lucky because nothing happened to him. He is a road construction worker so I don’t know where he is from. They shot him because he was believed to be a spy,” said the witness.

Local people also reported that before the incident took place, members of the Burmese military units were making rounds through the village.

“After hearing the gunshot in the village, most residents were afraid to go outside because they did not expect gunfire to break out again,” said a Kyauk Kadin villager to HURFOM. “They do not want the Burmese military around anymore because [the country] is in a period of transition. Despite the ceasefire [agreements], there is not security for them.”

According to local reports, the security situation remains precarious for people living in the area straddling northern Yebyu Township and southern Ye Township. Human rights abuses such as arbitrary taxation, travel restrictions, forced labor, abduction, and extortion are allegedly still being committed by both local Burmese military troops and Mon splinter groups.

Written by Modinator · Filed Under News