Two people were killed and another two injured in Yangon on Thursday in a series of attacks apparently targeting informants and officials working for the military regime.
On Thursday afternoon, a married couple were shot at their shop in No.16 Ward in Yangon’s Hlaing Township by two unidentified gunmen wearing personal protective equipment and posing as COVID-19 volunteers.
U San Win, 53, was shot three times and died at a military hospital, according to junta-controlled media. His wife, Daw Thi Da, survived despite being shot twice.
It remains unclear why the couple were targeted, but the regime blamed “terrorists” – the military’s euphemism for civilian resistance fighters and the People’s Defense Forces (PDF).
However, many people claim that junta forces are behind the attacks in an effort to blacken the name of the PDF’s. Anti-regime protesters have pointed out that regime troops and police are using ambulances and civilian vehicles in their shootings and crackdowns on the pro-democracy movement.
On Thursday evening, a junta-appointed ward administrative official was reportedly shot dead by unknown gunmen at his house in Yangon’s Dagon Seikkan Township.
A blast was also reported on Thursday morning at a teashop in Yangon’s North Dagon Township whose owner has been accused of being a junta informant. The owner was injured in the explosion and is being treated at a military hospital.
Also on Thursday morning, unidentified gunmen opened fire on the administrative office of No. 53 Ward in Yangon’s South Dagon Township, according to media.
Junta informants, regime-appointed ward and village administrators and their offices have been under attack by civilian resistance fighters for cooperating with the military regime in raids and the arrests of anti-coup protesters.
Members of the National League for Democracy party and anti-regime activists have also been slain by members of the Pyu Saw Htee groups, set up and armed by the junta to counter the civilian resistance fighters and opponents of military rule.
The military regime has used the Pyu Saw Htee groups to raid villages and fight with PDF’s in several areas, including Sagaing, Mandalay, Magwe and Tanintharyi regions.
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