BANGKOK — A top election official in Myanmar was fatally shot in his car in Yangon, the country’s commercial capital, in the latest attack attributed to militants opposed to military rule.
Sai Kyaw Thu, deputy director-general of the military-appointed Union Election Commission, was shot multiple times on Saturday, according to the military’s information office, media reports and a statement of responsibility from an urban guerrilla group.
The information office on Sunday said the attack was carried out by the People’s Defense Force, the loosely organized armed wing of the pro-democracy National Unity Government, an underground group that opposes the military-installed government that was established when the army seized power two years ago.
Many opposition forces including local People’s Defense Force groups operate autonomously from the National Unity Government but the military labels them all as “terrorists.”
A resistance group calling itself “For The Yangon” said it carried out the attack on Sai Kyaw Thu, a former lieutenant colonel. It declared “Mission: Accomplished” in a Facebook post on Saturday evening that was illustrated with three photos of their target.
Sai Kyaw Thu is believed to be the most senior official of the Election Commission to be shot since the army seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Resistance groups earlier this year attempted to disrupt preparations for a new election the military had promised by attacking personnel conducting a population survey that could be used to assemble voter rolls and other low-level election workers.
Plans for the polls,
whose date was never set, were set back indefinitely in February when the military government announced it was extending a state of emergency due to security problems.
Urban guerrillas have carried out many targeted killings, acts of arson and small bombings. Victims included officials and members of the military and their cronies, as well as people believed to be informers or military collaborators.
