The soldiers from Myanmar’s army knocked on U Thein Aung’s door one morning last April as he was having tea with friends, and demanded that all of them accompany the platoon to another village.
When they reached a dangerous stretch in the mountains of Rakhine state, the men were ordered to walk 100 feet ahead. One stepped on a land mine and was blown to pieces. Metal fragments struck Thein Aung in his arm and his left eye.
"They threatened to kill us if we refused to go with them,” said Thein Aung, 65, who lost the eye. "It is very clear that they used us as human land mine detectors.”