A member of the Burmese Army, (aka the Tatmadaw), fired his weapon 4 times while in a hotel bar. The individual was drunk, and shot his gun near a dinner table where the Chair of the Ye Township National League for Democracy was seated. The incident took place on December 28th, at Shwe TaungKyar Hotel in Ye Town, Mon State.
U Kyaw Moe Aye, Chair of Ye Township NLD described the incident on his FaceBook page.
“First, he threw a glass of alcohol and approached our table. When I greeted him and told him [politely] not to do that, he responded “did it hit you?” It is not that he caused problems to the party, but to me. He shot at the roof twice. Then, he got mad at me, and shot randomly. Then he ran away abruptly, no one got hurt. It was not anything that concerned the NLD or the army. He was just drunk and doing random things. ”
The Strategic Commander, from No. 19, Operations Command Headquarters, came to apologize for the incident. He gave his word the man would be punished accordingly.
U Kyaw Moe explained he was at the hotel attending a reception with 8 others. Due to Covid-19, tables were kept 12 feet apart. Apparently the drunk man was belligerent with hotel staff because their food service was slow. It’s not that he sought problems with me, he did not even know that I’m a Chair with the NLD,” wrote U Kyaw Moe Aye on his FaceBook page.
Shootings have not taken place in Ye Town for a long time. This incident caused many to become frightened. One witness said, “I got so frightened … my whole body shook as I heard the gun-firing. It’s still shaking. It is good that no one got hurt.”
Ye Town is located southern most portion of Mon State 98 miles from Mawlamyine and 100 miles from Dawei Town, in Tanintharyi Region. Ye Township is a stronghold of the Mon Unity Party, which secured all five seats in the 2020 General Election.
