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Former Brig. Gen. Cho Tun Aung, 68, was shot outside his home in
Mayangon township, in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, on May
22.
A militant group calling itself the Golden Valley Warriors
claimed responsibility for the attack.
The killing of Cho Tun Aung, who was a former ambassador to
Cambodia, was the latest attack against figures linked to the
ruling military since Myanmar was plunged into civil war after
the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in
February 2021.
The 16 suspects -- 13 males and three females -- were arrested
in four different regions between May 23-29, the state-run
Global New Light of Myanmar said. The newspaper said Cho Tun
Aung was shot dead while walking with his grandchild.
Those arrested include Lin Latt Shwe, the six-year-old daughter
of the alleged assassin, Myo Ko Ko, who was reported to have at
least three other aliases. The newspaper report said the child
and her parents were arrested in the central city of Bagan.
Others detained include the owner of a private hospital which is
alleged to have provided treatment to the gunman, who according
to the newspaper report said he suffered a gunshot wound during
the attack.
The Golden Valley Warriors said in a statement posted on
Facebook soon after the killing that Cho Tun Aung had been
teaching internal security and counterterrorism at Myanmar’s
National Defense College and that as such he was complicit in
what the group said was atrocities committed during the civil
war.
The targets of assassinations are often high-ranking active or
retired military officers, but senior civil servants and local
officials have also been attacked, in addition to business
associates of the ruling generals and those believed to be
informers or collaborators with the army.
The ruling military has been accused of human rights violation
on a far greater scale, including the bombings of villages
causing multiple civilian deaths.
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