A junta army column of approximately 100 men occupied Yaungmaw Village in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region on 31 January 2025 and has been setting fire to houses there almost every day since.

The column was dispatched to the area from Launglon Township in Tanintharyi Region after local resistance forces attacked and burned down the Shwegu Bridge junta checkpoint, also in Dawei Township.

Comrade Shadow, a spokesperson for the Launglon Township Revolution Force said to KIC: “The column was originally a unit based in Yebyu Town in Tanintharyi Region and stationed in Launglon, but it shifted its base to Yaungmaw Village after the attack on the Shwegu Bridge checkpoint.”

As of 4 February, the junta column was still stationed in Yaungmaw Village. Their presence there has caused villagers to flee from Yaungmaw Village and the nearby villages of Sayhpyatkone and Kinshae.

A woman who fled from a village close to Yaungmaw and who is now sheltering in Dawei Town said: "I am currently taking temporary shelter at a friend's house. I'm constantly worried that the violence will spread to the Dawei Town area. Yaungmaw Village, which was burned by the junta troops, is very close to our home. I have a small child, so my concerns are even greater.”

Since 28 January, junta troops have also been occupying the villages of Chaungwapyin, Thayetpinaing, Yaechochaung, and Gonhnyinseik in Thateyaung Township to the south of Dawei Township. This has caused many people from those villages to flee, according to an aid worker from Thayetchaung Township who is helping the displaced from those villages.