Military seizes body of Mogok youth killed by sniper
The victim was shot in the Mandalay Region town during a clash between the military and local resistance forces
The body of a young man who was shot dead by the military in Mogok last Thursday was taken away by his killers before his family could claim it, according to local sources.
Wai Yan Aung, 19, was hit by a sniper bullet during a clash between regime soldiers and the Padamya Myay People’s Defence Force (PDF) in Mogok’s Mintada ward, a resident of the town in Mandalay Region told Myanmar Now.
“He was just hanging out with some other kids. He heard some gunshots, and as he was running away, a sniper shot him in the chest,” said the Mogok local, who did not want to be named.
“He died on the way to the hospital and the military came to collect his body. His family didn’t even get to bury him,” the man added.
The incident occurred near the Singtaung Kyaung Pagoda Hill, in Mogok’s Mintada ward, at around 7pm on Thursday, the Padamya Myay PDF said in a statement released the next day.
The group said that it carried out a series of attacks around Mogok that night, killing an unspecified number of regime forces.
According to a member of the Padamya Myay PDF, Wai Yan Aung was killed during a clash at Mogok’s Electric Power Corporation (EPC) office.
“There were at least four casualties on the junta’s side during the attack on the EPC office in Mintada,” he added.
Also targeted were the town’s central police station, a jail in South Kachin ward, a police outpost in Kyauk Phar ward, and a military outpost in the Ngayantinn area.
“There were also a great number of casualties during the attack in Ngayantinn,” said the PDF member.
Almost all of the shops in Mogok were closed in the wake of the attacks, and security was tightened at all exits and entrances to the town, local residents told Myanmar Now.
According to the Padamya Myay PDF, a clash at the Ngayantinn outpost on November 14 left five junta soldiers dead. Another mine attack near the village of Nannwet in Mogok Township killed at least 15, the group said.
The military council has not released any statement regarding the situation in Mogok.
