The administrator of Sinteikan village tract in Minbu Township, Bago Region, Kyaw Hlaing, was shot and killed by People’s Defense Forces for forcibly recruiting young people for military service and extorting military service fees. On April 11 at around 2 PM, he was traveling by motorcycle from his mistress’s house back to Sinteikan village when he was intercepted on the western exit road of Setkwin town. A joint force of Battalion 3802 Division 3 from Thayarwaddy District and the Minbu Township People’s Defense Force fired seven shots at him during the clearance operation.
Administrator Kyaw Hlaing was a former traffic police officer who had been providing intelligence about revolutionary forces to the military council, forcibly collecting monthly military service fees from civilians in the village tract, demanding exorbitant amounts of money from those listed for military service, and forcibly recruiting young people for military service. Young people whose names appeared on military service lists had to pay tens of millions of kyats to avoid being forced into the military. According to Bo Moe Htet, the Information and Communications Officer of the Minbu Township People’s Defense Force, this action was taken in response to complaints from the public. Kyaw Hlaing reportedly had about five mistresses, though it was unclear which mistress’s house he was returning from when the incident occurred. No items were seized from him during the operation.
The People’s Defense Forces have warned civilians to avoid staying near military council members and their supporters as they plan to intensify their operations against the military council and its pillars of support. This incident highlights the ongoing conflict between resistance forces and local administrators who enforce the military council’s policies of forced recruitment and extortion, which have caused significant hardship for civilians in the area. The elimination of such administrators who actively support the military council’s oppressive measures against civilians has become a key strategy in the resistance movement’s efforts to dismantle the military council’s administrative structure at the local level.
