YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s military authorities have detained 16 individuals in connection with the assassination of a retired general, including the six-year-old daughter of the suspected gunman, state media reported.
The arrests stem from the May 22 killing of Cho Tun Aung, a former ambassador to Cambodia who was shot dead outside his residence in Yangon. The anti-junta group calling itself the “Golden Valley Warriors” claimed responsibility for the targeted assassination of the retired military officer.
Myanmar’s state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper announced that authorities had apprehended 16 members of the Golden Valley Warriors organization across multiple locations. The detained individuals include 13 men and three females, among them the wife and young daughter of the primary suspect identified as Myo Ko Ko.
The state media report provided no explanation for what charges the six-year-old girl faces in connection with the general’s murder. According to the official account, Myo Ko Ko and an accomplice traveled to the victim’s home on bicycles, carried out the shooting, and subsequently escaped to a predetermined safe house.
The assassination of Cho Tun Aung represents the latest incident in a pattern of targeted attacks against military-affiliated figures in Myanmar’s largest city and commercial center. Since the military’s seizure of power in a February 2021 coup, Yangon has experienced regular grenade and gun attacks targeting individuals linked to the ruling junta.
Myanmar’s political landscape has been transformed into a complex, multi-sided civil conflict following the military takeover that ended the country’s brief democratic transition. The ongoing civil war involves pro-democracy guerrilla fighters and reinvigorated ethnic minority armed organizations challenging junta control across vast territories.
While the majority of active combat operations remain concentrated in rural areas and smaller municipalities, urban centers like Yangon continue to witness periodic violence as resistance groups target military-connected individuals and infrastructure. The Golden Valley Warriors’ successful elimination of a former senior military officer demonstrates the reach of anti-government forces into the country’s most heavily controlled urban environment.
The military regime has faced substantial territorial losses in recent months as opposition forces have coordinated more effective campaigns against junta positions. However, defense analysts emphasize that Myanmar’s ruling military remains far from complete defeat, maintaining significant advantages including a powerful air force equipped with Russian-supplied aircraft and ongoing military support from China.
The arrest of family members, including a child, in connection with political violence reflects the junta’s increasingly desperate measures to combat growing resistance to its rule. The inclusion of the suspect’s six-year-old daughter among those detained has raised questions about the military government’s approach to collective punishment and its treatment of non-combatant family members.
Myanmar’s civil war has intensified significantly since the coup, with the military government struggling to maintain control over large portions of the country while facing coordinated opposition from multiple armed resistance groups. The urban assassination campaign in Yangon represents a new front in the broader conflict, bringing political violence directly into the heart of Myanmar’s economic capital.
The killing of retired General Cho Tun Aung and subsequent mass arrests underscore the deepening instability that has characterized Myanmar since the military’s overthrow of the elected civilian government, plunging the Southeast Asian nation into its most severe crisis in decades.
