SAC Forces and Militia Burn Hmaw Wan Lay Village — Hpakant Township, Kachin State (Cumulative: 137 Civilians Killed, 400 Injured in Hpakant Since 2024)

Myanmar junta troops and pro-military militia burned Hmaw Wan Lay village in Hpakant Township, Kachin State on May 20, 2026, according to CDM reporting, in the latest act of collective punishment targeting civilians in the jade-mining heartland. Hpakant has been the site of sustained KIA offensive operations since early 2026, with the Kachin Independence Army capturing multiple SAC frontline positions (April 2), deploying drone bombs on junta hilltop positions (April 11), and closing the Hpakant–Nantyar–Karmaing road indefinitely (April 23). Cumulative civilian casualties in Hpakant Township since the escalation of fighting in 2024 now stand at 137 civilians killed and nearly 400 injured, according to Moemaka's CDM documentation. The Hpakant region is Myanmar's most important jade-mining zone, generating billions of dollars in annual revenue that the junta uses to fund its military operations. KIA operations in Hpakant — including the May 20 village burning retaliatory attack by SAC forces — are part of the KIA's strategic campaign to degrade junta jade revenue and cut the Hpakant garrison's supply lines while maintaining pressure on Myitkyina (Kachin State capital) from multiple directions. The burning of Hmaw Wan Lay follows a pattern of SAC collective punishment documented across Myanmar in which junta forces burn civilian villages in response to KIA/PDF military operations nearby, depriving communities of homes and assets in a deliberate counter-insurgency tactic.