Six-year-old girl among Myanmar group arrested for killing retired general

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 in May, a junta-run newspaper reported on June 6.

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 Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering widespread protests.

The junta'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 guerilla-style fighting has erupted even in urban areas like Yangon.

“A total of 16 offenders – 13 males and three females – were arrested,” reported The Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

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 newspaper seen by Reuters but visible in other social media posts made by the junta authorities.

A junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The Golden Valley Warriors, an anti-junta insurgent group, said it killed the retired general because of his continued support for military operations, including attacks on civilians, according to a May 22 statement.

The junta claims the group is backed by the National Unity Government (NUG) – a shadow government made up of remnants of

Ms Suu Kyi's ousted administration

that is battling the military – and paid an assassin some 200,000 kyat (S$122) for a killing, the state newspaper reported.

NUG spokesman Nay Phone Latt denied the shadow government had made any such payments.

“It is not true that we are paying people to kill other people,” he told Reuters.

Since the coup, Myanmar's junta has arrested over 29,000 people, including more than 6,000 women and 600 children, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), an activist group.

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 junta 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