SITTWE—Police Sub-lieutenant Zaw Min Htay of the Yoe Ta Yoke Police in Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun Township, in western Myanmar, was stabbed to death while shopping at a local market Sunday morning, according to villagers.
Villagers say the policeman was stabbed by a group of four or five unidentified men at around 7 a.m.
U San Aung Thein, the Yoe Ta Yoke village administrator, confirmed the stabbing to The Irrawaddy, saying that Zaw Min Htay’s body was being taken to the Ponnagyun Hospital. He said he went to the hospital after hearing about the incident and was not a witness to it.
Rakhine State Police Force Lieutenant Colonel Maung Maung Soe also confirmed the death to The Irrawaddy but declined to provide further details.
The Irrawaddy tried since Sunday to contact a local police spokesperson for additional details but could not reach anyone for comment by the time of publication.
In the past two weeks, attacks on police in Rakhine State have killed three officers and wounded four others, in Ponnagyun and Kyuaktaw townships.
On Aug. 20, a police convoy from the Kyaukphyu-based Police Battalion No. 32 was struck by mines in Ponnagyun as it traveled from Kyauktaw to the state capital, Sittwe, killing Police Captain Thaung Lwin and another officer and injuring three others.
On Aug. 19, Kyauktaw Township Police Chief Major Saw Than Lwin was severely stabbed. He is still receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Yangon.
The Arakan Army attacked the Yoe Ta Yoke Police outpost on March 9, killing nine police officers and injuring two.
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