Ex-ambassador gunned down in Yangon

Cho Tun Aung, a retired Myanmar army general who once served as the country’s ambassador to Cambodia, was shot dead at his home in Yangon’s Mayangone Township on Thursday, according to the urban guerilla group that claimed responsibility for the killing. A member of the group, the Golden Valley Warriors, told Myanmar Now that the gunmen fled the scene without incident after carrying out the operation. “Today, we have successfully carried out our mission,” he said, adding that the Yangon-based group had been planning the assassination for four months. “They may have full security, but those military supporters cannot escape us. We will hunt down the rest of them, we warn you—just be prepared,” said the group member. Cho Tun Aung was believed to be teaching courses on internal security, counterterrorism, and international relations at the National Defence College, a college under the Myanmar military. He served as ambassador to Cambodia until March 2025. In 2023, the Myanmar military awarded him its highest honorary title—something that he took great pride in, according to a statement released by the Golden Valley Warriors. It added that he was also a close advisor to junta leader Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing. Cho Tun Aung receives an honorary award from junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in 2023 “Min Aung Hlaing has used the retired military officials that he considers most reliable, including Cho Tun Aung, to lead a strategic militia body,” the statement claimed. Since ousting the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, Myanmar’s military has faced unprecedented resistance from an array of groups. While most operate in relatively remote, rural areas, some are active in major urban centres. The regime has responded to the threat from resistance forces by carrying out airstrikes and other indiscriminate attacks on schools, hospitals, monasteries, and other civilian targets across the country. According to the latest data compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 6,700 people, including 808 children and 1,612 women, have been killed by the regime since the coup. The group adds, however, that these are only confirmed cases, and that the actual figures could be much higher.

Ex-ambassador gunned down in Yangon

Cho Tun Aung, a retired army general and former ambassador, was shot dead at his home on Thursday, according to the group claiming responsibility

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