Myanmar guerrilla group says it shot junta conspirator in Yangon

A man accused of working with Myanmar’s ruling junta has been shot in the head in central Yangon, a local guerilla group said.

The Urban Owls released a statement shortly after Monday’s shooting claiming responsibility for the attack, saying that businessman Nyan Lwin Aung was targeted for his close relationships with military leaders. 

They said the man accompanied junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on his trip to Russia last year and met with Russian Defense Ministry officials.

Nyan Lwin Aung also bought weapons for the junta, the group claimed.

He was shot in the head at an intersection in Latha township, residents told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.

“It happened at around 10 p.m. last night,” said one local, asking to be kept anonymous for fear of reprisals. 

“He was sent to the Yangon General Hospital. A large number of junta troops arrived with military vans and investigated 17th to 19th Street after the shooting incident.”

Police and soldiers began searching civilians along the busy Shwedagon Pagoda Road after the shooting, the local said.

Another Latha resident said Nyan Lwin Aung was shot at close range in his left temple and was sent to Yangon General Hospital.

The hospital’s emergency department confirmed to RFA Burmese that Nyan Lwin Aung arrived at the hospital Monday night with a serious wound. One surgeon said he was in a critical condition and being treated in the intensive care unit. 

Yangon division’s junta spokesperson and regional attorney general Htay Aung had not responded to RFA at the time of publication. 

Monday’s statement by the Urban Owls added that Nyan Lwin Aung had also worked for the Ministry of the Interior, installing CCTV facial recognition cameras. 

It said he had a company in Myanmar with business subsidiaries in Thailand, Russia, China, and the United Arab Emirates under the name North Gate Engineering and Technology.

RFA has yet to confirm the group’s claims. When a reporter called North Gate’s Yangon office an employee said he was not authorized to comment.

The guerilla group has carried out a number of killings, claiming responsibility for the death of Ye Khine, security chief of the Yangon International Airport, as well as Minn Tayzar Nyunt Tin, a junta-affiliated lawyer accused of money laundering.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.