Three leaders of the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) were gunned down in the street by unknown assailants in Sittwe town, Rakhine State, on Burma 's Independence Day, 4 January.
Daw Saw Mra Raza, vice chairperson of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the political wing of ALA, said they were killed in the morning.
“One of our officers found their car on the roadside with their bodies inside,” she told NMG.
Locals said they were killed in Sitan in Setyon Su Ward when they were on their way back from the celebrations.
“Someone intentionally kill them...I am also worried about my safety,” the ALP vice-chair said.
She confirmed that Khine Saw Mra, ALA commander-in-chief, Khine Kyaw Soe, battalion commander, and Capt Khine Thurein were assassinated but could not provide further information at the time of publication.
The bodies of the men were taken to Sittwe hospital for autopsy. According to local media reports, they were shot multiple times, including in the head and thigh.
The ALP participated in so-called peace talks with the military regime in Naypyidaw late last year and is a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. The group has claimed it wants stability to develop Rakhine State, but has come under fire in the community for cooperating with the dictatorship.
