In Nat Htamin village of Min Hla Township, Bago Region, village administrator Thant Naing Soe was killed in a targeted attack by resistance forces for forcing local youth into military service and oppressing civilians who could not pay military service fees. On March 8 at approximately 11:45 AM, combined forces from Thayarwaddy District Battalion 3802’s Units 2 and 3, along with Min Hla Township People’s Defense Force, entered the administrator’s house and shot him. He sustained three gunshot wounds to the head and died instantly.
Administrator Thant Naing Soe had been forcibly collecting money from impoverished civilians under the guise of military service fees. Those who could not pay were reported to the military junta forces and subsequently arrested. According to a PDF official from Thayarwaddy District, the administrator was targeted because he had been challenging resistance forces while continuing to oppress local residents. His actions had forced many villagers to flee their homes and abandon their livelihoods, leading to severe economic hardship in the community. The official reported that villagers were struggling to meet basic needs as they could no longer work safely in their areas due to the administrator’s collaboration with military forces.
The Thayarwaddy District PDF has announced that they will continue operations against the military junta and their collaborators who cause suffering to civilians and resistance forces. They have warned civilians to avoid areas near military personnel and their associates. The resistance forces have declared their commitment to eliminating those who assist the military junta in collecting forced military service fees and oppressing the local population. They emphasized that such actions against military collaborators are necessary to protect civilians from ongoing exploitation and forced recruitment by the military regime.
