Ex-Soldier Shot Dead in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

By Min Aung Khine 16 September 2019

SITTWE—An ex-soldier was shot to death by unidentified men on Saturday evening in Ann Township, Rakhine State, in the second murder in a week.

U Myo Naing, 50, was shot at his home in Ru San Pya Village, according to U Ko Ko Myat, the township administrator.

U Ko Ko Myat told The Irrawaddy that “three men knocked on his fence door at 7:45 p.m. on Saturday asking to use his bathroom. When he opened the door, the gunmen shot him. It was dark and no one could see who killed him.”

U Myo Naing’s family was inside the home and did not see the attackers. The police said they were investigating. His body was taken to a morgue, examined and buried on the same evening.

A female Ru San Pya villager told The Irrawaddy she heard a noise like a firecracker from the victim’s home, near the village high school.

“We wondered why there were firecrackers because it was not Thadingyut [the light festival]. But later we heard he was shot.”

On Sept. 9 at around midnight, 39-year-old U Khaing from Mae Let Maung village in Ann Township was hacked to death by three unidentified men who accused him of working with a news outlet.

Last week the decapitated bodies of two civilians from Kan Htaung Gyi, Myebon Township were dumped in a public market.

More than a dozen civilians have been murdered in Rakhine State’s Myebon, Kyauktaw, Minbya and Ann townships since December. The killings remain unsolved and the authorities say they have been unable to identify the suspects or motives.

U Khin Maung Htay, an MP for Ann, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that people would be afraid as long as the perpetrators were unidentified.

“People are concerned for their safety. Rural fishing communities in Myebon and Kyaukphyu townships [adjacent to Ann], start work at around 4:30 a.m. and are worried,” he said.

The MP said his constituents did not know which armed groups the armed men belonged to. He added that the impact was most significant in rural areas where isolated residents felt increasingly vulnerable. U Khin Maung Htay called on the government to boost security across northern Rakhine State.

Additional reporting by Nyein Nyein

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