A junta army column used civilians as human shields during operations in Pwintbyu Township, Magway Region on 15 and 16 February 2025.

Locals accused the junta soldiers of using human shields when they advanced on the villages of Made and Yaepokekalay in Pwintbyu Township on 15 and 16 February.

On 15 February junta soldiers allegedly forced five abducted civilians to walk in front of them through a dangerous area where there were landmines. Some of the civilians were hit by landmine explosions.

Describing what happened the next day, a resident of Yaepokekalay Village said: “On 16 February, soldiers abducted three villagers from their homes in Yaepokekalay Village, forcing them to accompany their column as human shields. One of the villagers was kicked into a ditch and shot dead by the soldiers.”

The exact number of people abducted from the villages of Made and Yaepokekalay to be used as human shields and their fates are unknown.  But, recent discoveries of bodies in the Mone River have raised the alarm amongst locals.

A local living near the river said to Than Lwin Times: “We don't know where these dead bodies came from. No one dared to retrieve them from the river. Some of the corpses were missing their heads.”

Bodies first started appearing in the Mone River on 10 February, the day after fighting had resumed between junta troops and Minbu District Battalion 7 People’s Defence Force (PDF) upstream from Made and Yaepokekalay villages.

The first bodies seen in the river were wearing junta army uniforms but in more recent days the corpses in the river appear to be civilians, according to people living along the river bank