The picture clearly shows two villagers with their throats slit and Burmese soldiers. The caption reads Burmese Army kills villagers in both Burmese and Shan languages. Until now nobody knew for sure where the pictures had been taken or who the murdered villagers were.

A member of a political party, who wishes to remain unnamed and has been investigating the picture discovered confirmed rumours that it was taken on 10th August 2011 and showed soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 114 who are based in Nong Khio township, northern Shan State.

The murdered villagers were named as Loong Mon and Sai Tun Khin from Pan-Sel village, Kyethi Township Southern Shan State. A local villager said that the army found Loong Mon by a stream and killed him and later they arrested Sai Tun Khin, tied him to a tree and killed him by slitting his throat.

On 10th August 2011 a company from L.I.B 114 (Under the command of brigade No. 55 based in Kalaw township, southern Shan State.) carried out a major offensive targeting the bases of the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) around Ta-Pha-Soung and Pan-Sel Village Tract in Ke See Township.

A local leader who prefers to remain unnamed said “The day that they were arrested and killed was 10th August 2011. One of the Burmese soldiers from the group that had returned from seizing the SSPP/SSA base came to the village and asked the villagers to go and check whether the man that was killed was one of their villagers or not.

“That Burmese soldier said: “The man said he was from this village, but when we asked him the name of the head monk of this village temple, he couldn’t tell us. So our commanding officer said he is a Shan soldier and on his orders that man was killed.”

“The other one [murdered villager] was asked to stop at a bathing place, but he didn’t stop and he ran away, so he was shot dead.”

After the Burma Army troops left the village, the villagers and the local monks went to collect the two villagers’ dead bodies and cremated them, conducting a religious ceremony.

As to where the photo originates, according to Major Sai Tip from the SSPP/SSA said it came from a Burma Army computer that the SSPP/SSA seized in a battle clash. The photo is very unusual because the Burmese Army hardly ever take pictures when they commit atrocities, so photographic evidence of this kind is very rare.

Major Sai Tip said: “We got these photos from some of the electronic devices and computers that we seized from the Burma Army troops. These photos were taken by the Burmese soldiers themselves.

“One of the civilians who was killed, Sai Tun Kin, was a porter for the Burmese troops. During the fighting he fled from the Burma Army and came to our troops. At the time we were being attacked and retreating from a position, so we were in a rush. We asked him to flee to a safer place and return to the village he came from. Since he was not a soldier, it was not appropriate to take him with our troops, and at that time there was shooting going on.

“But we found out that he was amongst the two civilians killed, when we went to the funeral in the village, and I felt really bad.”

Extra-Judicial Killings by the Burma Army are ongoing.

On 3rd October 2014, five Burma Army trucks led by a Mongyai based Burma Army commander were ambushed by SSPP/SSA soldiers in Loi Kyu Ji. Soon after that, the column of Burma Army trucks met two civilians; Sai Moon, an ethnic Wa who was the village headman of Namp Pao Village-Tract and Sai Shwe a villager from Wamp Lwe Village in Mong Pat Village-Tract, Tanyang township. The Burmese soldiers, who were angered by the recent attack on them, shot the villagers and burnt their motorbikes.

According to Nam Pao villagers, the two who were shot and killed were cattle tradesmen on their way to buy cattle.

The Burma Army carried out a major offensive operation against SSPP/SSA in 2011, and another in October 2014. During their last major operation, the Burma Army seized the base of the SSPP/SSA in Ta Pha Saung, in Pan Ze Tract, Ke See township.

Extra translation by Aung Myat Soe English editing by Mark Inkey for BNI