Matos Details Burma Army Tactic of Using Villagers as Human Shields at Gunpoint

What was said

"The Burma Army will take the civilians and they'll have the civilian population, they'll take Karen people, and they'll make them walk in front of Burma Army patrols. If there's landmines, if there's booby traps, if there's claymores, if the rebels are wanting to ambush the Burma Army, you can't do it because there's civilians intermixed. They'll go to someone's house and they'll say, congratulations, tonight I'm sleeping in your house under the same roof as your wife and your kids, and you are going to go sleep at the edge of the village."

Matos provided detailed accounts of Burma Army soldiers forcing civilians to walk ahead of patrols to trigger landmines and prevent ambushes, while also occupying villagers' homes and forcing husbands to sleep outside as human early-warning systems. He documented this through thermal reconnaissance footage showing villagers forced to guard village perimeters at gunpoint while soldiers slept with their families. These war crimes are routine tactics in areas where Stronghold operates.