Former USDP MP assassinated, as wave of killings continues

A spokesperson for the military proxy party claimed that around 70 of its members have been killed so far on suspicion of acting as regime informers

Myanmar Now

Published on Jun 11, 2021

A former MP from the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) was shot dead in Yangon’s Botahtaung Township on Thursday evening in the latest killing of a figure connected to Myanmar’s ruling junta.

Nay Myo Aung, who was elected to the Yangon Region parliament more than a decade ago, was gunned down by two men who then fled the scene, witnesses told Myanmar Now.

“He was shot twice in the head at close range while walking near the sculpture shops in Botahtaung Pagoda Market. There were two gunmen. After the shooting, they ran away,” said a local resident who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The former MP from the military proxy party had reportedly been keeping a low profile in recent weeks amid a spate of deadly attacks on local officials and alleged regime informers.

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Soon after the incident, regime forces arrived at the scene of the crime to collect CCTV footage from security cameras at Botahtaung Pagoda, according to a man living in the area.

Another resident said that Nay Myo Aung was about to consult a fortune teller in the market when he was shot dead.

Residents said they could not identify the killers.

Myanmar Now was unable to reach Botahtaung Township Myoma Police Station for comment.

According to USDP spokesperson Nanda Hla Myint, around 70 party members have been killed so far on suspicion of informing on anti-regime protesters.

“We, our party members, talk to each other to take care of our own safety and to support each other. We have to worry about others and we have to worry about ourselves,” he told local news outlet The Irrawaddy in an interview.

The USDP has not yet commented on the assassination of Nay Myo Aung, who won the 2010 election in Seikkan Township’s constituency 2 but lost his seat five years later when the National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to power.

In 2018, he ran again and defeated his NLD rival by around 150 votes. However, the result was later overturned due to alleged electoral fraud, allowing the NLD candidate, who received the second-highest number of votes, to claim the seat.

The charges against Nay Myo Aung were based in part on a report by Myanmar Now, which had discovered that more than a hundred residents of his constituency had received low-interest loans from a company linked to the USDP.

Myanmar Now later testified before the Union Election Commission in Naypyitaw in connection with the case, which also included charges of using religion for campaign purposes and illegal construction of a party office on state-owned land.

Nay Myo Aung admitted that he was behind the loans, but denied that they were related to the election.

“Lending money or not lending is not the main issue. I am just thinking of how to help the people in my constituency,” he told Myanmar Now in an interview conducted at the time.

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Eight Myanmar army soldiers defect to Chinland Defence Force

Chin resistance forces based in Hakha and Mindat claim that the junta troops surrendered their weapons to them

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 23, 2021

Myanmar demonstrators flash the three-finger salute as armed soldiers walk before them during an anti-coup protest in Yangon on February 15 (EPA)

The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) claims that there are now eight soldiers who have deserted the Myanmar army and joined their resistance group over the last two months.

The CDF attributed the troops’ defection to the group’s offer of a financial reward and safe passage across the border or to elsewhere in Myanmar for those abandoning the junta’s armed forces.

On September 16, the Hakha-based chapter of the CDF announced that any soldier surrendering their light weapons and ammunition would be granted 5m kyat (US$2,683). For heavy weapons and ammunition, the reward increased to 10m kyat ($5,367), and for state-owned vehicles, 50m kyat ($26,836).

“We kept our end of the promise. We actually gave 5m kyat to those who came to us with weapons,” a CDF-Hakha spokesperson told Myanmar Now, adding that there had been three such defections.

He said all three were ranked as privates and two were locals from Hakha, but he would not elaborate further.

Some officers also deserted the junta’s police force, he added, but most who joined the CDF did not bring their weapons with them.

“We arranged safe transportation for them. We can arrange safe passage whether they want to go to their villages or to Mizoram in India. We take responsibility for them until they’ve arrived in a safe place,” the CDF-Hakha spokesperson said.

The exact number of the police officers who have left their posts has not been disclosed.

A guerrilla group representing the Monywa People’s Defence Force and calling themselves “Thanmani and Members” released a statement on September 19 saying that a junta soldier who was on guard at the Myanma Economic Bank in Monywa surrendered himself and his weapons to them; he was transferred to the CDF in Hakha later that day.

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Soldiers are deployed during an anti-coup protest near the National League for Democracy headquarters in Yangon on February 15 (EPA)

A member of the anti-dictatorship Mindat People’s Administration Team said that there were five Myanmar army soldiers who had surrendered their weapons to the township’s CDF chapter since the announcement of a 5m kyat reward by the group in August. Their ranks were not disclosed.

Some of those troops joined forces with the resistance after the National Unity Government’s September announcement declaring a nationwide armed revolt against the military council, urging soldiers to defect to the side of the people.

However, a CDF-Mindat officer told Myanmar Now that the announcement had not yet caused mass defections in the area.

“I can imagine that it is hard for them to desert. It’s especially hard for them to desert along with their weapons,” he said.

Cpt Nyi Thuta, one of the first officers in Myanmar’s military to leave his post after the February 1 coup, told Myanmar Now that if soldiers flee with their weapons, it becomes easier to get caught.

“It would be especially difficult if the soldier had to use public transportation. Apart from those at the front lines and those on security duty, many deserters have just pretended to go to the market when they’re in fact leaving,” he explained.

The captain said he was encouraging others to leave the military and had been helping soldiers interested in defecting to contact the revolutionary forces.

“These [offers] are a great chance for the soldiers who do not wish to fight against the civilians,” said Cpt Nyi Thuta said, referring to rewards like those promised by the CDF.

Cost of weapons

Tun Myat Aung, another captain who has abandoned the military, told Myanmar Now that a soldier typically is issued a rifle, 240 bullets, a grenade and a landmine.

A soldier who has been issued an assault rifle would have 400 bullets, and one who has a machine gun would have 1,500 larger bullets.

The average soldier’s arms are worth between 1m and 1.5m kyat ($537 - $805), he explained, but the local defence forces often have to pay five times that for the same weaponry on the black market.

According to the resistance forces, the shortage of weapons often means that deserting soldiers frequently cannot join the battles against the junta and must remain under watch.

As many as 1,500 Myanmar army soldiers have deserted the military since the coup; many are privates and sergeants, but there are also more than 100 second lieutenants and majors who have been encouraging defection, according to officers who already left.

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Pa-O fighters in Shan help junta capture base from resistance forces

The Aungban Special Defence Force had to retreat but said it killed two soldiers from the junta’s side during the clash

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 23, 2021

Anti-junta resistance fighters in southern Shan state (Supplied)

Fighters from the Pa-O National Army (PNA) teamed up with the Myanmar military in Shan State last week to capture a base from local resistance fighters, members of the anti-junta group have told Myanmar Now.

A coalition force of at least 100 pro-junta troops attacked members of the Aungban Special Defence Force (ASDF) at their temporary base near Nawng Ye village, about seven miles from the town of Aungban, on September 18, the ASDF said.

The resistance fighters were forced to retreat amid a barrage of explosions and gunfire that started at around 8am, an ASDF member said. “They employed both snipers and mortars. We had to retreat after an hour as they had much more firepower than us,” he said.

The ASDF suffered no casualties but killed two pro-junta soldiers and injured another three during the clash, he said. Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify those figures.

The junta’s coalition fired at least 50 shells at the base during the clash and burnt it down after the resistance fighters fled, he added.

“[They] exchanged shots on the hills. The traffic was blocked, it’s now back to normal though,” said a witness who was on the road connecting Aungban to Pindaya during the clash.

The ASDF says it has formed alliances with local people’s defence forces based in Taunggyi, Aye Thar Yar, Shwe Nyaung and Kalaw.

The day after the clash, junta forces detained some Nawng Ye villagers and forced them to act as guides in the area, a member of a local social services organisation said. The villagers have since been released but people in the area are still very worried, they added.

Junta forces have been carrying out strict security checks on roads in Aungban, Kalaw, Pindaya, Ywar Ngan and Taunggyi in recent days.

Two other sources in Aungban said they estimated that about 200 military and PNA troops were stationed in the villages of Nawng Ye, Loi Sawng, U Hmin and elsewhere, and have been looking for local resistance fighters in the surrounding forests.

The ASDF member said the resistance forces are in a safe place. “We’re keeping our spirits up although we lost one of our bases. We’re going to come back stronger. We’re not going to give up,” he said.

The junta has not commented on the clash and the PNA could not be reached for comment.

In August, the coup regime began asking junta-aligned armed groups in southern Shan State–including the PNA and the Mat Kyeng (Marrkieng), Nayai, Nar Pwe and Homein militias–to supply reinforcements to the Myanmar military.

Earlier this month the ASDF claimed responsibility for the bombing of Mytel communications towers, a township administration office, a police station and the house of an alleged military informant. Myanmar Now was unable to obtain further details about the attacks.

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Junta forces in Kalay arrest and kill man accused of making guns for resistance fighters

A family friend said Kyaw Min Oo, who owned a welding and lathing workshop, had never made weapons or been involved in armed resistance to the coup regime

Myanmar Now

Published on Sep 23, 2021

A family friend believes Kyaw Min Oo, 40, was killed during interrogation by soldiers (Supplied)

A man died in junta custody after he was detained at his welding shop in Sagaing Region earlier this month on suspicion of making guns to supply resistance groups fighting to overthrow the dictatorship.

Kyaw Min Oo, 40, was arrested at his business in the industrial zone of Kalay Township, where he offered metal welding services and owned lathes, machines used to shape metal or wood.

Some 40 soldiers and 20 police officers arrived at the workshop at around 8am on September 14 and detained Kyaw Min Oo along with two other men, a family friend said. The soldiers found a metal pipe during a search and accused the men of making muskets.

The other detainees were a man named Shwe Lin and a neighbour of Kyaw Min Oo’s who was ethnically Chin, the friend said, adding that he did not know the name of the latter. The two men’s whereabouts are unknown.

“They didn’t hit anyone during the arrests,” the friend said. “They started interrogating them in front of everyone. They said they would release them later, but in truth we couldn’t even meet them in person anymore. We couldn’t send them food or clothes either.”

Kyaw Min Oo was against the coup but had not taken part in any form of armed resistance and had never made weapons at his workshop, the friend said.

Many people in Sagaing own rudimentary, locally made hunting rifles. In the wake of the February 1 coup the region’s residents were among the first to take up arms against the military.

Five days after his arrest, on September 18, an officer from the regional military headquarters in Kalay notified the family via local administrators that Kyaw Min Oo had died.

“When they asked them to give the body back, they said that they’d already cremated him,” the friend said. “I fully believe that he was killed during interrogation as he was a strong man who could withstand harsh work.”

“The dictators were never humane,” he added. “We will only be able to live in peace if all the dictators are gone.”

Kyaw Min Oo had been running the workshop for 13 years. He left behind a wife and two children, aged 5 and 12. On Tuesday his family offered food to monks in his name.

Several other people have been detained and killed by junta forces in Kalay in recent months. Around 90 others remain in custody after being detained in the town, according to locals and relatives of the detainees.

As of Wednesday, the junta has killed at least 1,114 civilians, including over 30 who died during interrogation, according to the latest tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Flash mob style protests have continued in Kalay almost daily despite the arrests and killings.

A resident of the town told Myanmar Now that the killings would not stop people from fighting the junta. “Everyone’s revolting against them in every way that they can. No one’s going to back down just because they killed someone,” he said.

“Everyone knows they’ve been terrorising the people and their fear mongering tactics are obviously not working; the people are not backing down,” he added. “If anything, they’re going to revolt against them even harder.”