A second monk has been shot dead in Myanmar’s Mandalay region, with sources in the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and local online media accusing the military of opening fire on the village teacher in the city of Myingyan.
A PDF source said her colleagues were conducting hospital searches for the body of U Uttama, who was killed on Saturday night when his car was attacked.
She claimed the military was attempting to shift blame or cover up his death.
“He was the second monk to be killed within a week,” she said, referring to Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa, a 78-year-old senior abbot who was killed by the military on June 19.
“It was a senseless killing but not the first.”
The military initially blamed the PDF for the killing of Munindabhivamsa but was forced to backtrack, admit, and apologize for his death after videos began circulating online and witnesses gave evidence contradicting the official story.
His death also led to accusations the military was attempting to enlist the Buddhist clergy in a religious conflict by blaming the PDF and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) for the killing — a claim that was first made by the exiled National Unity Government (NUG) in March last year.
Uttama’s death was also reported by local online news outlet Voice of Spring on its YouTube and telegram channels, which said the military was blaming the Myingyan Black Tiger (MBT) group, an EAO made up of young ‘revolutionaries,’ for carrying out the killing.
The charge was rejected by the PDF source, anti-regime forces and residents.
The Voice of Spring daily said the MBT had not engaged in any military activities recently, nor were any of their ‘revolutionaries’ nearby when the shooting occurred. It also quoted a resident as saying the Pyu Saw Hti — pro-military militias — had shot the monk.
“That area is a large area that is always dominated by Pyu Saw Hti, the military council, and the police," he said, adding that Uttama was shot at about 9:30pm. “The Pyu Saw Hti men, who were always hiding there, shot him because they were suspicious.
“We know that the monk died on the spot,” the resident said, adding the driver who was with Uttama, Ko Aung Myo Thaung, was seriously injured.
About 20 EOAs and the PDF—the armed wing of the NUG—have been battling the military since it ousted an elected government in early 2021. In recent months, they pushed the junta into retreat after a well-orchestrated dry-season offensive.
The PDF source backed the Voice of Spring report, saying it was difficult to tell where responsibility for the deaths began, who ordered the killings and from how far up the chain of military command.
“But it’s certainly counterproductive from the military’s perspective. They’re out of control, and that type of brutality has fueled this revolution since it began,” she said.
