Rangers helped more than 1,600 IDPs with financial assistance and medical treatment In Taw Oo and Kler Lwe Htoo districts, in the midst of Burma military artillery strikes and airstrikes. In Taw Oo district, Burma Army’s Southern Command’s Infantry Battalion (IB) 26 fired artillery rounds at Thoe Wa Chaung Village on Mar. 20, damaging one building. A Ranger team distributed financial assistance to IDPs displaced from Thandaung Myohit Village. From Mar. 19 to 22, the team visited three different villages within Daw Pah Hkoh Township, providing financial assistance to 1,534 IDPs from 332 households, as well as additional individual financial assistance to 61 elderly civilians, three pregnant women, 25 disabled people, and 12 village leaders. 

In Kler Lwee Htoo District, on Mar. 20, a Burma military jet dropped a bomb in Law Mu Thae Village, Ler Doh Township, injuring one civilian and forcing a pregnant woman to deliver her baby while taking refuge in a bunker. After the attack, Ranger medics helped treat the injured villager as well as the mother and newborn child.

The Burma Army conducted artillery, drone, and airstrikes, killing three civilians, injuring nine civilians and soldiers, and damaging multiple houses and a monastery.

On Mar. 20, a Burma Army unit attacked Yunkote Village, Kawkareik Township, Hpa-an District, with artillery fire, injuring three locals. One local sustained injuries to his calf and the other two locals received injuries to their thighs and abdomen. On Mar. 22, ten KNLA soldiers were clearing a house that contained Burma Army soldiers in Naung Cho Village. Two of the KNLA soldiers sustained leg injuries from a landmine. They were treated at a local hospital and both had to have a leg amputated. Upon the KNLA’s return to the village, the Burma Army conducted a drone strike, which injured two more KNLA soldiers.

On Mar. 21, an 81mm mortar round fired by Burma Army IB 207 landed near the North Monastery in Khrue Village, Kyaikto Township, Doo The Htoo District. The mortar round killed one of the monks, U Zin Lay Saw Gyi (55 years old), and injured two other monks. The same day, the Burma Army IB 207 attacked Thone Gwa Village with two drones and three mortars. The drones destroyed a local’s home and the yard of the Aung Chantha shop.

In Dooplaya District, the Burma Army dropped drone bombs on Mar. 17, in Payaw He’ Village, severely damaging several monastery buildings. The Burma military also launched airstrikes in Mae Ka Nae Village on Mar. 19, killing two men and burning a house.

Please pray for wisdom, resilience, and peace for the Ranger teams on the ground as they work on the front lines and for the incoming support teams heading to help in the region.

Fighting raged between the Burma Army and KNLA around Choung N’Port and Chaung Lamu villages in Mergui Tavoy District; four IDP civilians and one Karen National Police Force officer were killed in the Burma military strikes.

The Burma Army dropped drone bombs in Payaw He’ Village on Mar. 17, severely damaging the monasteries. The same day, the Burma Army attacked the area and clashed with KNLA forces at Choung N’Port Village with the Burma military continuing airstrikes in support of their ground forces. A Burma military jet fighter launched an airstrike at Thain Khun and Choung N’Port villages in the vicinity of resistance forces and a Ranger team on Mar. 18. The next day, a Burma military Mi-2 helicopter dropped bombs in Choung N’Port Village against KNLA and other resistance forces. On Mar. 20 there was a clash between KNLA and Burma Army soldiers in Choung N’Port Village area between 0800-1800 hours, resulting in the deaths of two Burma Army soldiers. The Burma military launched another airstrike resulting in one KNLA injured in the leg. A Ranger team member was injured while rescuing the injured soldier.

The Burma Army stationed in Thein Khun Village fired a 120mm mortar round at Chaung Lamu Village on Mar. 21, which exploded in front of a civilian house. The explosion killed Than Zaw Htay, a 22-year-old pregnant IDP mother, and 16-year-old Ko Hein Wai Aung. Two other civilians were also injured. A Burma military jet fighter dropped a 500-lb bomb near Chaung Lamu Village on Mar. 24, killing one Karen National Police Force officer, injuring three KNLA soldiers, and damaging a building owned by the Palm Oil Company. Karen National Union (KNU) medics treated the injured soldiers and transported them to a hospital.