YANGON: Myanmar’s military authorities have arrested 16 people—including a six-year-old girl—in connection with last month’s assassination of a retired general in Yangon, according to state media.
Cho Tun Aung, a former ambassador to Cambodia, was shot dead outside his home on May 22. The attack was later claimed by an anti-junta group known as the “Golden Valley Warriors.”
Since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, Myanmar has been engulfed in a complex civil conflict involving pro-democracy fighters and long-standing ethnic armed groups. While much of the violence has been concentrated in rural areas and smaller towns, Yangon—Myanmar’s largest city—has seen a surge in targeted grenade and gun attacks against military-linked figures.
The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported that authorities have arrested 13 men and three women across multiple locations. Among them are the wife and young daughter of the suspected gunman, Myo Ko Ko. The report did not specify what, if anything, the six-year-old is accused of.
According to the paper, Myo Ko Ko and an accomplice carried out the assassination by arriving at the victim’s home on bicycles and fleeing to a safe house after the attack.
Although the junta has lost significant ground to resistance forces in recent months, analysts caution that it remains far from collapse. The regime continues to benefit from a well-equipped air force, bolstered by Russian aircraft and strategic support from China.
