Six-year-old girl among Myanmar group arrested for killing retired general

6/6/2025 16:52

Myanmar's military has arrested a six-year-old child as part of a group it labelled "terrorists" for the daytime killing of a retired military officer and diplomat last month, a junta-run newspaper reported on Friday.



Cho Htun Aung, 68, a retired brigadier general who also served as an ambassador, was shot dead in Myanmar's commercial capital of Yangon on May 22, in one of the highest profile assassinations in a country in the throes of a widening civil war.



Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, overthrowing an elected government led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering widespread protests.



The junta's violent crackdown on dissent sparked an unprecedented nationwide uprising. A collection of established ethnic armies and new armed groups have wrested away swathes of territory from the well-armed military, and guerrilla-style fighting has erupted even in urban areas like Yangon.



"A total of 16 offenders - 13 males and three females - were arrested," the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.



In an accompanying graphic, the newspaper carried the image of the six-year-old child, identified as the daughter of the alleged assassin.