Myanmar’s military has arrested a six-year-old child as part of a group it labelled “terrorists” for the daytime killing of a retired military officer and diplomat last month, regime media reported on Friday.
Cho Htun Aung, 68, a retired brigadier general who also served as an ambassador, was shot dead in Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon on May 22, in one of the highest profile assassinations in a country in the throes of a widening civil war.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, overthrowing an elected government led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering widespread protests.
The military’s violent crackdown on dissent sparked an unprecedented nationwide uprising. A collection of established ethnic armies and new armed groups have wrested away swathes of territory from the well-armed military, and guerrilla-style fighting has erupted even in urban areas like Yangon.
“A total of 16 offenders – 13 males and three females – were arrested,” regime media reported.
In an accompanying graphic, the newspaper carried the image of the six-year-old child, identified as the daughter of the alleged assassin.
Her face was blurred in an online version of the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM) newspaper seen by Reuters, but visible in other social media posts made by regime authorities.
A regime spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.
A group calling itself the Golden Valley Warriors said they killed the retired general because of his continued support for military operations, including attacks on civilians, according to a May 22 statement.
The regime claims the group is backed by the National Unity Government (NUG) – a shadow government comprising of remnants of jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyu’s ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) administration that is opposed to the regime – and paid an assassin some 200,000 MMK ($95.52 USD) for a killing, regime media GNLM reported.
NUG spokesperson Nay Phone Latt denied his government had made any such payments. “It is not true that we are paying people to kill other people,” he told Reuters.
Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military has arrested over 29,000 people, including more than 6,000 women and 600 children, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Fatalities among civilians and pro-democracy activists verified by AAPP during this period amount to more than 6,700, including 1,646 women and 825 children.
Myanmar’s regime has said it does not target civilians and its operations are in response to attacks by “terrorists” for maintaining peace and stability in the country.
REUTERS
