Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told the regime-controlled media in Naypyitaw on Wednesday that the regime was implementing a “public security system” and will strengthen them to eliminate “terrorist” forces.
He said the system has been developed with regime supporters, the army and police in some areas where resistance forces have escalated attacks on junta targets.
“We will support them with manpower and equipment,” he said.
His comments come as pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias [1] are increasingly terrorizing civilians and ambush resistance fighters alongside regime troops in resistance strongholds like Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions.
The first Pyu Saw Htee — named after a legendary historical hero — militias were formed in mid-May last year after the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) began forming people’s defense forces (PDFs) to resist the regime.
The groups emerged as attacks on military-appointed administrators and administrative offices were increasing.
A married couple, who were members of the National League for Democracy in Myingyan, Mandalay Region, killed by the pro-junta Thwe Thout group in July 2021.
The Pyu Saw Htee largely consist of military supporters, retired military personnel, members of the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party and ultra-nationalists.
The Progressive Voice rights group recently reported that the Pyu Saw Htee are becoming increasingly violent and are permitted by the junta to make arrests, kill PDF members, loot and destroy property and assassinate political leaders.
On March 3 in Lel Yar village, Magwe Region, junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee members torched around 200 buildings, destroying homes, livestock feed, a water pump and crops, Progressive Voice reported. Approximately 1,700 civilians, including 500 children, fled Lel Yar after hearing gunfire as their houses began to be set alight.
On March 4, junta and Pyu Saw Htee personnel raided Letpan Hla village, setting fire to around 30 homes and destroying property. The junta also used artillery.
Around 14 resistance fighters in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region, were killed in mid-February by Pyu Saw Htee members disguised as civilians.
Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun denied the newly emerged pro-junta Thwe Thout group was endorsed by the regime. He did not mention taking legal action against the group that is seizing civilians and leaving them dead with the group’s lanyards.
After the brutal murders of National League for Democracy supporters in Mandalay at the weekend, Thwe Thout said in a statement that it will murder other party members and supporters and the families of resistance fighters.
Pro-junta social-media personalities and military informants shared the group’s statement and its potential targets.
On Wednesday, the NUG’s defense ministry released a statement calling for members of the Pyu Saw Htee and other groups trained and armed by the regime to surrender to resistance forces.
The ministry said it will protect those defecting while saying militia members guilty of war crimes will face the same justice as members of the armed forces.
The Irrawaddy
• The Irrawaddy. 28 April 2022:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-officially-endorses-militias-to-attack-anti-regime-civilians.html
Pro-Junta Militia Kills NLD Supporters in Myanmar
A pro-regime militia killed two National League for Democracy (NLD) supporters and wounded another in Mandalay on Sunday in response to an anti-junta group’s vow to attack regime supporters, security forces and their family members.
Sources close to the victims said U Tin and Daw Kha Kha were seized by the Thwe Thout militia in the evening. U Khin Maung Thein, U Tin’s brother, searched for them and also went missing.
U Khin Maung Thein and Daw Kha Kha, both in their 50s, own Sein Win Win teashop in in Mandalay and are strong NLD supporters. U Khin Maung Thein is a ward chairman in Chanayethazan Township.
U Khin Maung Thein, who was dead, and Daw Kha Kha, who was still alive at the time, were dumped outside an NLD office on Sunday night. A Thwe Thout lanyard was left around U Khin Maung Thein’s neck. U Tin’s body was found with the group’s logo near the Sabel housing complex near Kannar Road.
A Mandalay Region NLD member confirmed the deaths to The Irrawaddy.
“U Tin had been stabbed in the throat and U Khin Maung Thein was shot in his waist. Their bodies are being prepared for funerals,” she said.
She added that Daw Kha Kha was shot in the head and had knife wounds on her throat and head. She is being treated at hospital and her condition is unknown.
Thwe Thout posted graphic images of the victims with lanyards on its Telegram channel.
It follows the launch by Mandalay guerrilla group Black Hades of its Operation Zeya, pledging to “hunt regime soldiers and police but also their families”.
Thwe Thout said on Thursday that they will launch “Operation Red” to counter Operation Zeya. Pro-regime Telegram accounts, such as Han Nyein Oo, distributed the statement.
Since late March last year, numerous regime informers, officials and allies have been killed by guerrilla groups.
Daw Soe Soe, 50, the wife of the vice-chairman of the NLD in Mandalay, U Ko Ko Lay, was killed during interrogation and her body was dumped beside a Mandalay road on Friday.
On Monday, Thwe Thout updated its hit list to include people’s defense force supporters, journalists and diaspora members supporting attacks on the regime. The list included family members.
The Irrawaddy
• The Irrawaddy. 25 April 2022:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-officially-endorses-militias-to-attack-anti-regime-civilians.html
Myanmar Regime Murders NLD Official’s Wife and Dumps Body on Street
Myanmar junta forces killed the wife of the vice chairperson of the Mandalay District National League for Democracy (NLD) branch during interrogation and then dumped her body by the side of the road, according to members of the Mandalay District NLD.
Mandalay District NLD vice chair U Ko Ko Lay has been in hiding since the military regime filed a sedition case against him. His wife Daw Soe Soe was not charged by the junta, but was hiding at someone else’s house in Mandalay for security reasons.
She was taken as a hostage and later killed after junta troops failed to find U Ko Ko Lay at the house where she was hiding, said sources.
The body of 50-year-old Daw Soe Soe was found on Monday outside a fire service office near the New Mingalar Market on 35th Street in downtown Mandalay, one week after her arrest.
“Her body was dumped by the road. Local ward residents held a funeral for her. It appears that she was killed because she did not reveal the whereabouts of her husband,” a Mandalay District NLD member told The Irrawaddy.
On the night of April 12, junta troops arrived in five military vehicles at the house where Daw Soe Soe was sheltering. She was taken away as a hostage after they didn’t find her husband in the house, according to eye-witnesses.
Regime soldiers slapped Daw Soe Soe in the face during the raid, and beat and slashed her thighs with a knife.
A source close to her said: “I was concerned for her safety when I heard that she was slashed on her thighs. They [the junta] don’t view humans as humans but kill people as if they were birds or chickens. They did this to instill fear in people.”
Family members are also concerned about the fate of U Thein Zaw, a brother of U Ko Ko Lay, who is also being held incommunicado by the regime.
There have been reports that U Ko Ko Lay died suddenly of a stroke on Thursday evening while hiding in Shan State. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify those reports.
At least 1,779 people have been killed by the regime since last year’s February 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The Irrawaddy
• The Irrawaddy. 22 April 2022:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-regime-murders-nld-officials-wife-and-dumps-body-on-street.html