Junta forces arrested 13 members of an urban guerrilla group on suspicion of planning an attack on the leader of Myanmar’s military regime, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, state-run media reported.
A state-controlled newspaper reported the plot on Monday, confirming that in all 13 people had been arrested in connection with the plot to attack the army chief, who led a 2021 coup, at a Yangon bridge opening in early June.
Members of anti-junta forces, speaking to Radio Free Asia on Monday, confirmed the arrests but a member of the Yangon UG People’s Army group denied that the people arrested had been attempting to attack political officials.
Since the coup ended a decade of tentative reform, guerrilla groups in Yangon, Myanmar's former capital and main city, have proliferated, bombing junta-occupied buildings and killing administrators who support a junta conscription drive.
The Myanmar Alin newspaper reported that soldiers arrested seven people between the ages of 18 and 26 on June 10 for being in possession of two 107-mm rockets and equipment to launch them near the opening of Thanlyin Bridge 3 on June 8.
Min Aung Hlaing was one of several high-ranking officials attending the event.
A woman and man were arrested June 9, and four other suspects were arrested several days later after being accused of carrying out bomb attacks in Yangon region’s Hlaingthaya and Mingala Taungnyunt townships, the newspaper reported.
The member of the Yangon UG People’s Army, who declined to be identified for security reasons, said the military fabricated the attack plot to justify its arrests.
“People know that the military council’s statements are lies. If they want to arrest people, they drag whoever they see under whatever charges they like,” he said.
“All underground guerrilla members need to take special care for security as they move among the dogs,” he said, referring to junta forces
One of the arrested men, Ye Zaw Tun, could be seen with bruises on his face following the arrest, according to photos released by the military.
Min Aung Hlaing, speaking at a meeting on stability and development in Yangon after the plot was broken up, said security must be a priority given the possibility of plans by anti-regime forces to launch attacks, state-owned media said.
According to data released by the Assistance Association for the Political Prisoners on Friday, a total of 20,597 political prisoners arrested after the coup are still in detention across the country.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Taejun Kang.