25 Unidentified Bodies Found After Regime Forces Withdraw from Jade Village

Twenty-five bodies have been unearthed in Maw Wan Kalay village in the jade mining hub of Hpakant after the withdrawal of regime forces and allied militias who had occupied it for over a year.

Villagers found the bodies buried around the sprawling mountain settlement after the regime allowed them to return earlier this month.

Residents said it is unclear whether they are civilians or members of regime troops.

“At this point, their identities are unknown,” a resident said. “They could also be members of regime-allied militia or forced conscripts.”

He said the regime told displaced villagers to return home earlier this month and ordered them to register once they did.

In mid-2025, residents of Maw Wan Kalay and surrounding villages were displaced when the regime and allied Shan National Army (SNA) and Warazup militia launched offensives trying to recapture the lucrative jade mining hub from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and People’s Defense Forces (PDF).

Local media reported that civilians were used as human shields as marauding regime forces entered their villages, burning homes, looting property, and raping and murdering civilians.

Some villagers fled to the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina but many others sheltered in surrounding safe areas with support from religious communities.

When they were told they could return, they found that their homes were practically uninhabitable due to a lack of water supply, vandalism and rampant vegetation after a year’s neglect. It was when they started to clear up the mess that they came across the bodies buried in their compounds.

“I also found a dead body buried in my house two weeks ago,” a resident told the Irrawaddy. “The same day, we discovered six buried corpses across the village.”

He said his house had been ransacked and showed signs of being used, while other nearby houses showed fire damage.

The regime and allied forces still control Maw Wan Kalay and surrounding villages, and residents say they blocked villagers’ movement on Tuesday after the discovery of the dead bodies went viral online.

“They now stop villagers from going in and out,” another resident told The Irrawaddy.

He said he has visited the village almost every day to clean up, and some villagers are stuck there now.

“I don’t know what is going to happen,” he said. “They’re still there.”