Since the military’s coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian administration in February 2021, which sparked widespread protests that were violently put down, Myanmar has been in disarray. The atrocities sparked widespread armed resistance, which has evolved into what some United Nations specialists have labeled a civil war.
Daw Than Than Swe, the vice governor of the junta-controlled bank, U Thein Aung, the top financial officer of Telecom, and retired Brigadier-General Ohn Thwin, the mentor of the deputy junta head, Soe Win, have all been killed.
Junta lobbyists and members of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are in terror after violent attacks on junta officials, retired military soldiers, and their associates in towns.
On April 22nd, Sai Kyaw Thu was assassinated in Yangon; he was the junta-appointed deputy director-general of the Union Election Commission (UEC).
The assassination shocked the military backers. The next day, Daw Nan Mya Mi Mi Zaw, a USDP spokesperson, posted a lengthy Facebook warning to military supporters, instructing them to shut off their phones when they are out and about, not make or answer phone calls in public, not post pictures in real-time when traveling, speak no more than necessary during trips, and keep in mind that there could be informants from inside the military lurking about. They call them “watermelons.”
During his testimony in a court case, Sai Kyaw Thu was brutally murdered by members of the urban revolutionary group “For the Yangon.” The lives of witnesses like plaintiff Aung Myo Lwin, who testified for the prosecution, are now in danger.
Sai Kyaw Thu’s murder was the latest in a string of attacks on people who supported the current leadership.
Attorney Min Tayzar Nyunt Tin, who opposed the regime but lived in Thanlyin, was murdered in March.
On April 18th, Ex-Lieutenant Colonel Aung Nyi Tun was murdered in Thanlyi.
On April 29th, a week after killing Sai Kyaw Thu, the Bahan’s Guerrilla Force eliminated retired major U Ye Min Than.
Former military officers in Myanmar now live in constant fear for their lives, with a few noteworthy exceptions like ex-Brigadier General and current USDP chairman Khin Yi, who lives in a well-secured home in Naypyitaw and has a team of personal bodyguards.
Despite the checkpoints at critical junctions and sand-bagged fortification, the generals’ residence remains vulnerable to attack.
The bodies of 14 people, including three women, were discovered on an island in a river in Nyaung Yin. In Tar Taing, three more male bodies were found, two of whom were local resistance members.
They claimed that one of the two had his head severed.
