Bo Kyar Yeni told one of his sons that he had died because of his military service


"I'm sure I'd kill you—if I had the chance to shoot first."


This is what Bo Kir Yeni said on the phone to his son who was serving in the Burmese army.


Bojiani joined the armed resistance after the February 2021 military coup that overthrew the country's democratically elected government. The bitter civil war that followed divided his family into two camps. He is now at war with the ruling military council, which his son defends.


"Maybe you'll give me a chance [don't kill me] because I'm your father, but I'm going to leave you. We're worried about you," he told his son Nai Nai over the phone. Who was sitting on a pear tree in the desert.


The son replied: Yes, father, I was also worried about you. You encouraged me to join the army.


Bo Kyar Yeni has two sons who are serving in the army. His elder son no longer answers his calls.


"The army destroyed the houses and set them on fire," said Bo Kyar Yeni, whose son has vowed to withdraw the army. "He killed people, shot protesters, killed children for no reason, raped women. You probably don't know about it."


"That's your opinion, Dad," Nani replied politely to her father. Although the military denies it, its atrocities are widespread and well documented.


After the call, Bo Kyar Yeni said he was trying to convince his two sons to leave the army and join the resistance. "They will not listen to me. Now fate decides whether we shall meet in battle or not."


"There are always two or three grains of dry bread in each handful of beans. The same goes for families. Sometimes some of their members don't fit."


Bu Kyar Yeni and his wife Yen Yen Myen have eight children. They were very proud when their two children joined the army. Dad kept a military school graduation picture as a souvenir. Both became officers.


"The shooting was like a shower."


One February day at 3:00 p.m., Bo Kerini soldiers received calls from residents of nearby villages telling them that the army had attacked their village.


"We need help, dogs [soldiers] have entered our village, come and help us. Send reinforcements."


His second son, Min Ong, was the first to leave. His mother knew that she could not stop him, so she had no choice but to pray for his safe return.


The Cheetahs rode off on their motorbikes and Bo Kyar Yeni, along with his son Min Aung, led his troops as usual.


The father and son were at the head of the line when they were targeted by soldiers near a village


Walking a familiar path once thought safe, they find themselves targeted by the military.


"We have nothing to cover, no big trees or anything like that," said Min Naing, another of his sons.


"They were shooting at us like a grain of corn on a grain of rice. We are on a battlefield and our weapons are no match for them."


Bo Kir Yeni ordered them to retreat, and the force hid behind a gate near the rice fields.


"Someone knows me," said Bo Kyar Yeni.


He felt that the attack was focused on him.


"I was running and running and I was shooting at them."


Emment waited anxiously at the camp, she heard what was going on.


"The gunshots were so continuous that her voice sounded like rain," she said through tears.

Yin Yin Mint is saddened by the loss of her son who used to help her with the housework


A few hours after the attack, the army published pictures of the dead on Facebook and said that 15 people were killed.


This is when Yoon Yoon Min realizes that she has lost her closest son, Min Ong.


"My son takes good care of me. He cleans the kitchen, does the laundry... he is very good to me."


In June, soldiers burned down the family's house and their belongings along with 150 other houses in the village. The soldiers have carried out destructive attacks all over Myanmar, especially in the center of the country.


The military appears to have been aware of Bou Carini's role in the resistance -- but it is unclear whether they knew if he had two sons serving in the military.

A few villages remained where Bu Kyar Yeni and his family lived happily


Yin Yin Myint finds it difficult to come to terms with what she has lost.


"My house was destroyed by fire and I lost a child," she said. "It's all beyond my understanding, I feel like my mind is separated from my body, I'm crazy."


Since the military took power in Myanmar, 1.1 million people have been displaced and at least 30,000 homes have been destroyed.