On 9 July 2026, junta troops in Yebyu Township, Tanintharyi Region, abducted three LGBTQ+ youth humanitarian aid workers and an unidentified male civilian from Kamauk Chaung village to use as human shields. The victims were members of the local civil relief team The Ants (Humanitarian Aids Team-Tanintharyi) and were in the area providing emergency humanitarian assistance to local villagers. The abducted humanitarian workers were identified as Ko Athar (24), team leader and student at Dawei University of Education; Ko Myat Thu (19), team member; and Ko Leon (24), finance officer and student at the National University of Computer Studies.
On 13 July 2026, local residents discovered the disfigured, severely decomposed bodies of the four victims between Wazundaw and Akani villages. A director from the local human rights group MAGGA Initiative reported that the stage of decomposition indicated the victims were executed four or five days prior. Residents confirmed their identities through ID cards found in a nearby bag. Local sources suspect the junta troops executed the workers after searching their seized mobile phones and laptops and discovering documentation of their humanitarian relief work. This violent operation followed a 22 June 2026 directive by deputy junta military chief Kyaw Swar Lin, who ordered troops to “wipe out” resistance along National Highway No. 8 to secure the Russian-backed Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) mega-project.