On the evening of October 5th, Battalion Commander of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) was assassinated at his home in Kawkareik Town, Karen State.

According to neighbors, at 7 p.m., a man driving a motorcycle came to the house of the 49-year-old Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Saw Way Htoo, and shot him six times with an AK-47 rifle.

“[I am] very sorry for what had happened. We are going to find out the reasons behind the assassination,” said DKBA Deputy C-in-C: Lt. Gen Saw Steel.

According to a police officer from Kawkareik Township, a further investigation continues to be conducted.

Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Saw Way Htoo represented one of the ethnic armed groups, the DKBA that had signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015.

The first DKBA, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, split from the Karen National Union (KNU) armed group in 1994, and changed its name from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army to the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army in 2012.