Myanmar’s NUG makes arrests in deadly shootout between rival resistance groups

National Unity Government (NUG) authorities in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township have arrested 10 members of a local resistance group in connection with the killing of five people in a shootout that took place last week, according to sources. On May 28, members of the Students Group allegedly engaged in a gunfight with Thant Zin Htet, a former member of another local anti-regime group, killing him and his wife, brother, and parents in Tei Taw, a village about 10 miles southeast of the town of Depayin. According to a local NUG administrator, officials who were alerted to the situation attempted to intervene, but were too late to prevent the outbreak of violence. “We received news that [Thant Zin Htet’s] house was surrounded. Since it involved armed people, we requested assistance from [NUG troops]. However, before they arrived, the other group opened fire,” said a member of the Depayin Township People’s Administration Organisation (PAO). Another source told Myanmar Now that on the morning of the incident, Thant Zin Htet and the leader of the Students Group had a serious argument, during which Thant Zin Htet and some of his brothers chased the Students Group leader with a sword. After the Students Group leader fled, Thant Zin Htet found a gun that had been left behind. Village officials demanded that he hand it over to them, but he refused and later used it to exchange fire with the Students Group when they returned, the source said. Following the shootings, troops from Battalion 12 of the Shwebo District People’s Defence Organisation (PDO), which operates under the direct command of the NUG’s Ministry of Defence, arrived in Tei Taw and attempted to arrest the suspects. However, residents of the village only agreed to hand over the 10 members of the Students Group after two days of negotiations, during which the village was closed off, according to a PDO officer involved in making the arrests. The Students Groups was previously accused of killing two local people during last year’s Thingyan water festival. The Depayin Township PAO attempted to apprehend the suspects in that incident, but said it was unable to do so due to a lack of cooperation from residents. When the local PDO leader also refused to take action against the suspects, the NUG disbanded the Tei Taw PDO, according to sources familiar with the case. Thant Zin Htet was formerly a member of a group called Moe Gyoe Mone Tine. During his time with the group, he was accused of killing two married couples, one from the village of Tei Pin and another from the village of Sinwutkone. Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify any of the allegations made against Thant Zin Htet or the members of the Students Group.

Myanmar’s NUG makes arrests in deadly shootout between rival resistance groups

The incident left one former anti-junta fighter and four members of his family dead in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township last week

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