Shootings Reported as Min Let Pan Scam Compound Collapses During KNU–DKBA Clashes

A major scam compound in Min Let Pan, south of Myawaddy, descended into chaos this week after clashes between Karen National Union (KNU) forces and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) fractured the security perimeter around two linked cyber-fraud enclaves known locally as Baoli Zone and Shunda Zone. What started as a territorial confrontation quickly unraveled into panic, indiscriminate gunfire, and mass flight attempts. Foreign workers were caught between collapsing command chains and approaching armed groups with no clear route of exit.

Documentation released by the Karen National Union provides a rare, structured account of the Min Let Pan compound collapse, including ground-level findings, identification of nearly 2,400 trafficked workers, seized digital evidence, and the discovery of torture facilities. These assessment pages, dated 23–24 November 2025, outline the first verified humanitarian and forensic review of Baoli Zone and Shunda Zone following the DKBA withdrawal.

The crisis unfolded on 21 November, when KNU forces initiated an operation to retake territory long held by DKBA units aligned with the Myanmar junta. As fighting pushed south toward Min Let Pan, the Baoli and Shunda scam compounds—long protected by DKBA militias within a wider scam-center network—were drawn into the conflict. The turning point came when more than 230 DKBA soldiers surrendered, causing a rapid collapse of defensive lines and opening access to areas previously sealed off from all civilian and international authorities. Behind those gates, KNU personnel discovered a tightly organized scam infrastructure holding several thousand foreign workers under confinement.

Survivor communications confirm that as KNU forces approached, workers in Baoli attempted to flee to Shunda to avoid being caught in the fighting. One worker explained, “We escaped from Baoli Zone to Shunda Zone before Baoli was completely overrun.” Another message added, “Shunda has now been taken over. There are still hundreds of Chinese workers locked inside.” These accounts show a chain reaction.

KNU ground assessment teams entered the areas surrounding both zones on 23 November, documenting more than twenty multi-storey concrete buildings spread across the compound. The structures included active scam operation floors, dense residential dormitories, administrative offices, a hospital level, and a series of small booth-like rooms believed to have been used for punishment or coercive control. Many computer stations had already been dismantled and mobile devices destroyed, indicating attempts to erase operational evidence as the sites collapsed. According to the KNU announcement dated 25 November 2025, roughly 2,000 individuals had been confined across Baoli and Shunda prior to the compound’s fall.

Panic intensified on 25 November. Workers who had escaped from Baoli found themselves trapped inside Shunda, hearing sporadic gunfire and receiving contradictory information about escape routes. Witness messages describe scenes of desperation. One said, “A man was shot six times and collapsed on the spot.” Another reported, “There are bullet holes everywhere.” Others described trying to run toward exits only to be turned back: “Two trucks of armed soldiers were outside carrying rifles. The ones who got shot were the ones trying to rush out. I tried to run halfway but they pinned me down.” In another message, a worker noted, “Hundreds of gunshots were fired last night.”

Multiple witnesses also alleged that KNU personnel restricted movement at several exits and opened fire in the direction of civilians attempting to flee. Survivor accounts collected from inside the compounds describe individuals being “hit by bullets while running,” “bodies on the ground with no one able to retrieve them,” and “several people dead but the doors still closed.” These claims remain unverified but were repeated across separate chat groups and voice notes during the height of the chaos, indicating widespread fear and confusion about who was shooting and where safe exits, if any, remained.

Videos recorded by witnesses inside Shunda confirm these accounts. In the first, filmed from behind a window, groups of workers can be seen running through open areas while others crouch beside bodies on the ground. Scattered belongings suggest a desperate mass escape attempt. In the second video, a person lies motionless on an exposed concrete yard, unresponsive, with other workers too afraid to approach due to ongoing gunfire. The third video below, filmed across a stairwell in Shunda’s residential block, captures a body collapsed beside a doorway marked “B,” with no movement and no one daring to retrieve the injured — reinforcing survivor accounts that stairwells and exits became lethal choke points.

Survivors shared videos from inside the compound showing visible streams of blood on the floors and walkways, indicating that multiple individuals had been injured during the gunfire.

Meanwhile, KNU asserts that their forces did not fire on civilians and that all gunfire came from armed individuals who remained inside the compound after DKBA control collapsed. KNU officials stated their focus was on securing the perimeter, stabilizing the situation, and preventing additional casualties. According to their statement, remnants of armed actors — believed to be DKBA-aligned guards or private security personnel — opened fire on fleeing workers inside Shunda during the breakdown of command.

The interconnected collapse of Baoli and Shunda provides a rare look into the structure of Myawaddy’s scam-compound economy. These zones function as self-contained criminal ecosystems where workers live, work, sleep, and attempt escape under militia supervision and threat of violence. When DKBA control disintegrated, Baoli fell first, sending workers into Shunda; Shunda then became overloaded, and armed actors responded to mass escape attempts with lethal force. The footage recorded by witnesses shows the consequences with stark clarity — bodies left on staircases, individuals collapsing in open areas, and crowds running through the compound as gunfire echoed around them.

Yet multiple survivor testimonies also allege that KNU personnel opened fire toward fleeing civilians, contradicting elements of the official announcement. These accounts remain unverified but were shared independently by numerous workers inside both compounds, underscoring the gap between on-ground experiences and the narratives released publicly.

Investigations into the events inside Baoli and Shunda are expected to continue once the area stabilizes. The KNU has called for international cooperation, noting that the scale of the compound, the number of foreign nationals involved, and the amount of physical and digital evidence exceed its investigative capacity. Thai authorities and several foreign embassies have begun seeking updates on the conditions and whereabouts of their citizens.

For now, the fall of Baoli and Shunda in Min Let Pan stands as one of the most visible and documented collapses of a Myanmar scam compound to date, revealing the inner workings and human cost of an industry that has flourished for years behind barricades, militias, and absolute control.