A regime-appointed administrator in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw was shot dead on
Tuesday morning, the first deadly assault on a local official in the headquarters of the military regime.
U Htay Aung, a 100-household administrator in a village in Pobbathiri Township, was attacked while returning home on a motorbike from a nearby village. He was shot three times at close range.
“A young man was arrested last month and died in detention. Locals think that it was because of him [U Htay Aung], as he gave information to the junta forces. So someone took revenge on him,” a resident said.
Regime targets in Naypyitaw such as a military-owned bank, a military procurement office and security gates have been hit by bomb attacks in recent weeks. Few casualties were reported.
Another junta-appointed administrator was also shot dead on Tuesday morning in Yangon’s Mingaladon Township.
Since the February coup, ward and village administrators who were previously elected by local residents have been replaced with regime-appointed officials as the junta seeks to shore up its control of local government and revive neighborhood surveillance networks.
Many junta-appointed administrators are suspected to be military informants, providing the regime with information on its opponents to help with arrests and raids which, in several cases, have left accused civilians dead at the hands of junta forces.
The administrators also force residents to register any guests staying overnight in their homes, a move designed to make it harder for opponents of the regime to evade arrest.
Civilian resistance groups, known as People’s Defense Forces (PDF), have warned ward and village administrators to stop working for the regime, while stepping up their attacks against junta forces
So far in October, over 100 local administrators have resigned from their posts after receiving warnings from PDFs.
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