Myanmar Spring Chronicle – View from September 19
(MoeMaKa, September 20, 2025)
Airstrike on a KIA training site in Shwegu; killing of nine women confirmed two years later
A military training school located in Kachin State’s Shwegu Township, within KIA Brigade 11 territory, was bombed by the junta’s air force. Initial reports on the day of the incident said at least 17 people were killed.
KIA spokesperson Col. Naw Bu said the exact death toll was still unknown, while some outlets reported 17–20 fatalities. It is unclear whether the site was a school for KIA’s own new recruits or a facility where the KIA trains PDF units from Upper Myanmar (e.g., Sagaing/Mandalay). Since late 2021, the KIA has been known to train PDFs, supply arms and ammunition, and in some areas its officers have served as advisers or field commanders for township- or district-based PDF units.
Recent reports (with photos) also showed PDF leaders from places such as Myingyan District and the Yaw area meeting KIA Deputy Chief of Staff Maj-Gen Gun Maw in May and June.
The junta appears to have been systematically gathering intelligence on KIA gatherings, ceremonies, and training locations/timings; there have been multiple strikes in recent years. Before 2020, during President Thein Sein’s term, the military shelled the Laiza officers’ training school. After the 2021 coup, in October 2022 the air force bombed a KIO 62nd-anniversary event near A Nang Pa in Hpakant Township, killing an estimated 50–70 people (including civilians and musicians) and injuring over 100.
The latest airstrike inflicted heavy losses on the KIA as well as on PDFs attending training.
A second development concerns nine women from Sar Kha village in Salingyi Township who were arrested in 2023 by troops from Yinmabin District Battalion 28; their families have now, two years later, confirmed that all nine were executed and have reported the case to relevant organizations.
One of the women was pregnant. Most were in their 30s–40s, with the oldest around 60. They worked at a military-run thread and textile factory in Salingyi and, after the coup, did not join the CDM. In 2023, village militia leaders U Zaw Lin and U Maung Cho brought Battalion 28 troops into the village under cover of darkness to seize the women.
Families initially believed the women were being held elsewhere; only when eyewitnesses later spoke up did they learn the women had been killed. A familiar accusation—that the victims were Pyu Saw Htee trainees—has been denied by their families.
Yinmabin Township has seen similar incidents before. In October 2021, the PDF group led by Thapyay Aye Sayadaw U Thawbaka (who used the nom de guerre “Bo Thanmani”) killed 10 people, including members of another PDF unit and local firefighters. That group was also accused, with supporting evidence, of around 20 killings across 2021–2022, yet the NUG was unable to take action.
More recently, Yinmabin Battalions 14/15 were reportedly moving narcotics from Sagaing through to Chin State when a Chin PDF unit intercepted them, destroyed the drugs, and publicized the seizure.
The NUG appears to face difficulties in addressing human-rights abuses committed by some resistance units—because not all armed groups are fully under the NUG Defense Ministry’s control, the chain of command is weak, and there is no robust justice system. Failure to act on grave extrajudicial killings fosters impunity and invites further abuses; many unreported cases may exist.
Although the Salingyi/Sar Kha killings occurred two years ago, the families are now demanding justice and punishment of those responsible.