Colonel Aung Nay Myo, the acting commander of the 22nd Light Infantry Division from Karen State’s Hpa-an Township, was killed while fleeing to the Bangladeshi border, the ethnic Arakan Army (AA) reported.
When the AA seized Border Guard Police Battalion No. 5 in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township on Dec. 8, the commanding team led by the colonel fled in disarray.
On Tuesday, nine days after the fall, Aung Nay Myo was found dead at a prawn farm near Shwezar village in rural Maungdaw.
The AA reported that he had been trying to escape to Bangladesh with the help of local Muslims but triggered a landmine planted by border guard police and bled to death.
The AA said it found some gold bars, gold jewelry and approximately 80 million kyats by the body in the farm hut.
Local media outlet Narinjara last week reported that junta soldiers in April abducted three ethnic Mro people who were on their way home after selling gold in Maungdaw town. The abductees were taken to the border guard police battalion headquarters and killed, and regime forces stole their gold and around 18 million kyats.
Aung Nay Myo graduated from the Defense Services Academy as part of its 41st intake.
When seizing Battalion No. 5, the AA also captured Brigadier General Thurein Tun, the chief of No. 15 Military Operations Command based in Buthidaung, near Shwetaung village in Maungdaw.
The victory gave the AA full control of Maungdaw Township, the last piece in the puzzle putting the rebels in charge of the entire 270-km border with Bangladesh.
The AA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organizations, which has seized most of northern Shan State including the capital Lashio since launching anti-regime Operation 1027 in October last year.
It expanded the operation to its home state of Rakhine in November last year and has since seized 12 of its 17 townships plus a number of other towns as well as Paletwa Townships in neighboring Chin State.
