A police officer was shot dead in Kachin State’s Hpakant Township on Monday, in the third such killing in the area since August, according to local sources.
Thet Naing Oo, 30, was gunned down as he was leaving a massage parlour in the town’s Ma Shi Ka Htaung Ward at around 10am, a local man told Myanmar Now.
“He was just getting into his car after leaving the massage parlour when he was shot. The assailant also took the car after dragging him out of it,” said the man, who did not know the officer’s rank.
The killing came exactly one month after the shooting death of Aung Latt, a police lieutenant from the narcotics department who was gunned down in Hpakant’s Hmar Wun Ward on September 10.
Two police corporals who were with him at the time also sustained injuries but survived the attack, sources said.
On August 3, a police second lieutenant from the Hseng Taung police station and two junta soldiers were also shot in the village of Hmar Shan.
The police officer, who was not identified by name, was killed in that attack, but the two soldiers were not fatally wounded, according to sources.
While Hpakant, a town famed for its jade mines, has long had a reputation for lawlessness, the recent spate of murders targeting police appears to have local military authorities concerned.
“The military has been conducting more searches. It’s been a while since they were this serious about security around here,” said a local man who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
While it was unknown who carried out the recent shootings, police have been a frequent target of anti-regime groups, along with junta-appointed administrators and military informants.
According to Maj-Gen Zin Min Htet, who was appointed chief of Myanmar’s military-controlled police force in May, a total of 360 police officers had been killed between July 2021 and July 2022.
Speaking at a law enforcement conference held in August, he added that between 20 and 26 officers were being killed every month since last year’s coup.
Despite an increased military presence and other measures meant to tighten control over Hpakant, including a more than year-long internet shutdown, strikes and clashes continue to take place in the area, according to locals.
The Kachin Independence Army and People’s Defence Force groups are highly active in many parts of Kachin State.
Meanwhile, civilians have also fallen victim to violence.
On October 2, Yang Hseng Gu, 25, was shot dead by junta soldiers while returning to her home on a motorcycle. According to local residents, her body was never returned to her family.