Since January the junta has killed at least 33 civilians, including massacring 21 people at a temple in Nam Nein Village on 11 March 2023, in Pinlaung and Pekon townships, in southern Shan State, according to the CSO Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF).

Apart from local battalions under the Eastern Regional Command, the junta has deployed hundreds more troops from the Central Eastern Command and elite infantry divisions during military operations.

The troops who carried out the massacre, and torched 150 houses in Nam Nein Village, were from ID 66 and LIB 518, under Military Operations Command (MOC) #2 of the Central Eastern Command.

Junta airstrikes target civilian areas

On 8 January 2023 at 9:00 p.m., even though there was no fighting at the time, junta troops from Infantry Division (ID) 55 stationed at Waree Su Palaing Village, south of Moebye Town, fired artillery shells into Moebye Town. A shell landed on the house of U Leo Pan, aged 66, in Quarter 1, killing him.

On 10 January, there was fighting between junta troops patrolling west of Pekhon Lake and Pekhon PDF forces. Fighting then spread along the Shan and Karenni State border.

On 16 January, at 8:15 pm, junta artillery based in Pekhon indiscriminately shelled a temporary IDP camp near Kaung Saung Village, west of Moebye Town. Shrapnel hit and killed a 33-year-old woman called Daw Mu Lin and injured another two IDPs.

On 24 January, fighting broke out between junta troops and PDF forces in Moebye Town. A shell hit a civilian house in Nyaung Wai quarter, causing it to catch fire.

In early February, junta troops launched a military operation around Moebye and Pekhon, causing increased fighting. On 10 February, the junta used aircraft to bomb Waree Ku Village, Ree Long Ree Kan Village Tract, Pekhon Township. A bomb hit and damaged a local church.

On 24 February, in the morning, the junta troops and their PNO militia allies fought with the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and other PDF forces at Taung Me Deen (Kaw Mai Hsang) Village, Pinlaung township. Due to junta shelling and the stationing of junta troops in their villages, over 5,000 local villagers from Taung Me Deen, Long Pian, Salong South, Salong North and Nam Neang villages fled their homes to shelter in temporary IDP camps in Pinlaung Town. Only a few villagers stayed behind to look after their property.

On 24 February at 7:00 p.m., junta troops at the MOC #7 base in Pekhon indiscriminately shelled into Salong South, Salong North and Taung Me Deen Villages in Pinlaung Township. A shell hit and killed a 46-year-old woman in Taung Me Deen Village.

On 27 February, at 8:00 p.m., a 40-year-old man and 8-year-old child taking refuge at a local temple in Khaung Ee village, west of Pekhon, were killed by a shell fired from the MOC #7 base. The next evening, even though there was no fighting, the junta troops fired again into an IDP camp and a local temple in Khaung Ee Village. A shell hit and killed two brothers aged 19 and 15.

On 27 February, there was heavy fighting between junta troops and PDF forces at Kaw Mai Hsang Village, in Pinlaung Township. After the fighting, the body of one man and one woman were found in the village, and four men from the village also disappeared during the fighting.

Massacre at Nam Nein Village

On 9 March at 6:00 a.m., junta troops from ID 66 and ID 77, along with their PNO militia allies, fought against PDF forces near the villages of Saung Byaung, Taung Me Deen, Long Paen, Salong South, Salong North, Nam Nein and Panglong in Long Paen Village Tract, Pinlaung Township. During the fighting, the junta troops used military aircraft and heavy weapons to fire into populated areas. According to a Nam Nein villager hiding in the jungle, the junta carried out at least 15 airstrikes from 9 to 11 March.

On 10 March, in the evening, junta troops stationed at Payakone Hill, near Saung Byaung Village, shelled into Nam Nein Village, killing an elderly man, U Aye Ko aged 60, who was taking shelter at Nam Nein temple.

On 11 March, in the morning, junta soldiers at Payakone Hill fired artillery indiscriminately and deployed more troops into Nam Nein Village. Later that morning, junta troops from ID 66 and LIB 518 called out three monks and 18 local villagers who were taking refuge in the Nam Nein temple building and shot them dead. After killing them, the junta troops took photos of the corpses and shared the photos on social media, saying they had killed PDF forces.

The junta troops then set fire to about 150 of the 350 houses in Nam Nein Village.

On 12 March, the KNDF and joint PDF forces were able to enter Nam Nein Village and found the corpses of the monks and local villagers in front of the temple. There had been six monks at Nam Nein temple, but the remaining three monks have disappeared.

On the evening of 12 March, IDPs sheltering at Lay Toon IDP camp, east of Moebye Town, fled to the nearby jungle when junta ID 66 troops patrolling from Pekhon arrived at the IDP camp. However, two elderly IDPs, U Hla Ngein aged 78, and Daw Mu Lu aged 81, as well as 15-year-old Maung Kyaw Htoo (who had fled to the camp to join his family) were unable to escape in time and were shot dead by the junta troops. The corpses of the elderly IDPs were found burned.

Before the recent military operation, there were over 2,500 IDPs sheltering in various locations in eastern Moebye Township, but most have now fled again to different areas.

Fighting is ongoing between the junta troops and their PNO militia allies against joint PDF forces along the border of Pinlaung and Pekhon townships.