Pa-O PMF Kills Displaced Woman in Hsihseng Township
By Network Media Group
Monday, April 22, 2024
An armed group affiliated with the military regime has reportedly shot a woman who had been displaced by the fighting in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone. She was returning to her village to collect some belongings in southern Shan State.
According to family friends, Daw Mu, aged 37 and hailing from Nawng Theim, was fatally shot by the Pa-O People’s Militia Force (PMF), formerly known as the Pa-O National Organisation, in Hsihseng Township.
The woman, who sought refuge from the conflict on April 8, was killed only two days after she fled. A family friend stated that she had been staying in a displaced persons camp and returned home to gather rice and cooking oil after inquiring whether it was safe to do so.
“When she was traveling in the area, PMF soldiers encountered her and immediately opened fire,” the man explained. The soldiers stopped her and her husband at a checkpoint in Loi Tung and shot at them, though her husband managed to escape.
Resistance groups opposing the PMF and the Burma army buried Daw Mu’s body the day after her death.
A woman from Nawng Theim mentioned that the PMF routinely patrols the area, warning that failure to comply with their orders to stop may result in gunfire.
Following the murder, other villagers from Nawng Theim, in dire need of food, are hesitant to gather provisions from their village, fearing they too may face harm.
Volunteers aiding civilians affected by the war in Hsihseng Township reported that on April 8, the Pa-O PMF shot three tenth-grade students as they were fetching water in Twe Pu. One of the girls was killed instantly, while the other two sustained serious injuries.
Fighting has been ongoing in the area since the end of January, when the PMF and the Burma army attacked the Pa’O National Liberation Army, ending its ceasefire with the regime. Over sixty civilians have been killed since the conflict began.
