Myanmar Now
Published on May 7, 2021
Soldiers murdered a 15-year-old boy and arrested five others, including his grandfather, during a raid on a village in Mandalay’s Myingyan Township on Friday, local residents told Myanmar Now.
Htet Aung, who was a tenth-grade student and was also known as Phoe Chit, was shot in the head as he fled after trucks full of regime troops arrived at Lal Thit village early in the morning, the residents said.
The soldiers came after a homemade bomb exploded at the house of a suspected military informant at around 5am.
“The snitch called the military,” a protest leader in Myingyan said on condition of anonymity. “When the military came, they got the informant to be a ‘guide’, and he made them search the homes of people he doesn’t like. The troops were also firing randomly.”
The village of around 1,000 people is located near the Myingyan-Tada-U road. Many of its residents have joined anti-coup protests in the nearby town of Myingyan. The military raided the village on April 13, the first day of the Thingyan new year festival.
The military took Htet Aung’s body away and arrested five people from the village, including his 67-year-old grandfather Thaung Yin.
Also arrested were 19-year-old Wunna Aung, as well as Ye Thwin, Hlaing Hlaing Myint and Daw San–who are in their 30s, 50s, and 60s respectively. They were targeted because they were politically active, residents said.
Htet Aung was an orphan and lived with his grandfather. His other relatives are now trying to get his body back from the military.
Locals have alleged the informant who called the military on Friday was a man named Min Min, according to the protest leader.
“There are many informants in the village. If they feel they’re no longer safe, they call the military and the troops just show up. The kid died this morning because someone called the military,” he said.
The military’s spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
At least 772 people have been murdered by the regime since it seized power on February 1, according to figures from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Source – Soldiers murder teenager in Myingyan before arresting his grandfather | Myanmar NOW (myanmar-now.org)
