A township administrator and one of his assistants were shot and killed at a local restaurant in Mandalay Region’s Wundwin Township on Monday, according to local sources.
Kyaw Moe Oo, the administrator, was having lunch with two of his assistants at the Shwe Hnin Yee restaurant in Wundwin when a group of armed assailants opened fire on them, said a local man who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
The administrator and one of his assistants died instantly, but the other assistant, who sustained serious injuries, survived the attack, the source said.
“He is now being treated at Meiktila hospital,” he added.
An officer of the Wundwin Township Revolutionary Force (WTRF), the group that claimed responsibility for the assassination, said that it had received information from an “inside source” before carrying out the attack.
He added that the victim did not respect the public, despite the fact that he was living on their taxes.
Military authorities have tightened security at all points of entry into the town of Wundwin since the killing, local residents reported.
On August 9, WTRF forces also killed a police lieutenant named Saw Naing Oo, who was serving as the temporary chief of Wundwin’s police station.
Following that attack, the military increased the number of security forces in the township and started conducting thorough searches using excessive force, according to locals.
Wundwin Township is located east of the Ayeyarwady River, in an area that is mostly flat, open land. Unlike the heavily wooded western side of the river, where most resistance groups in the region are based, it offers few natural hiding places.
The town is also just 30km northeast of Meiktila, a major city that is host to a number of air force and army bases. Troops stationed in Meiktila have been a frequent target of explosive attacks carried out by resistance forces based in Wundwin.