A young crony close to the ministries of defense and home affairs who bought weapons for the military regime was shot dead in Yangon on Monday night, a Yangon resistance group claims.
Nyan Lwin Aung, commonly known as Ko Nyan, also collaborated with the Ministry of Home Affairs to import and install facial recognition CCTV systems to oppress the public, said Urban Owls, an anti-regime guerrilla force.
The group said it gunned down the 36-year-old crony on Monday night in Lanmadaw Township.
Pictures circulating on Facebook appear to show he was shot in the temple, and pro-junta media claimed he was critically wounded.
Nyan Lwin Aung did business in Thailand, China, Russia and United Arab Emirates and also established a travel company to launder money, Urban Owls said in a statement. He also traveled to Russia along with junta representatives, it added.
An outspoken supporter of the 2021 coup, he often cursed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and revolutionary forces on social media, while forcing his employees to recite the four principles of the military every morning, the group said.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the claims.
The group also vowed to take further action against business cronies of the military regime.
“From electric cars to the importation of weapons, a list of young businessmen who are collaborating with the terrorist military has been collected and action will be taken when the opportunity arises in cooperation with revolutionary forces,” the Urban Owls said.
Yangon troops closed local roads after the assassination, but the group’s operatives escaped safely, it added.
In March, Urban Owls shot dead Minn Tayzar Nyunt Tin, a crony who had aided the junta in legal matters and money laundering.
In June, the group assassinated Ye Khine, chief of security at Yangon International Airport, who oversaw the detention of anti-regime activists including artists and striking government staff as they tried to leave the country.
Junta-linked businesses have been targeted by anti-regime forces since November 4, 2021, when Thein Aung, the finance chief at military-owned Mytel Telecommunication Co and an ex-navy lieutenant commander, was shot and killed by the Yangon Revolution Force.
Ex-brigadier general Ohn Thwin and his son-in-law Ye Tayza, a former army captain, were killed by the Inya Urban Force in late September.