Soldiers from the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) killed a 50-year-old man on his cattle farm in Mong Kung Township in southern Shan State on 19 May.

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SSPP/SSA spokesperson Capt Thiha Razar said his soldiers were investigating the area near U Paw Htwe’s cattle farm after they heard a landmine explode.

“Our soldiers saw him with a weapon and tried to make him stop, but he kept running away. They thought he was a member of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) and shot him dead.”

The SSPP/SSA has imposed martial law in Mong Kung Township, where it has clashed with the RCSS/SSA in recent years.

Thiha Razar said they provided compensation to the family in front of the village headman in Loi Yang in Loilem District, but he did not know how much.

According to the Shwe Phee Myae newsgroup, the SSPP/SSA gave them about $240.

Thiha Razar said, “We have already warned the locals to go to their farms only in groups and if necessary, we will carry out inspections. We do not allow just one person to go into the jungle…we have told them not to run away if they see our soldiers, otherwise they will be shot by our soldiers.”

The SSPP/SSA came under fire in the Shan community after a video showing its soldiers torturing a man they hanged from a tree in Laikha Township on 9 May went viral.