A deputy governor of Myanmar’s Central Bank was shot at her home on Thursday, less than a week after tough new regulations were issued ordering that foreign money held in bank accounts in the military-ruled nation must be exchanged for the local currency.
There were conflicting accounts of whether Than Than Swe, appointed to her post after the military seized power, survived the attack.
She is the highest ranking Myanmar regime official to be attacked by rebels so far.
A member of an anti-regime guerrilla group in Yangon claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Daw Than Than Swe was shot five times on her doorstep shortly before noon. But he refused to offer any more details for security reasons.
Pro-regime accounts on Facebook said the 55-year-old died at around 11:45 a.m., right after being admitted to a hospital with gunshot wounds. However, regime spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun, while confirming the shooting, told the media that the vice-governor was admitted to a military hospital with “minor” injuries.
Daw Than Than Swe was appointed as one of two vice-governors of the central bank on Feb. 4, 2021, three days after the military seized power by overthrowing the country’s democratically elected government.
A militant group called the Yangon Region Military Command, which pledges allegiance to the National Unity Government, the main opposition organization, posted a statement on its Facebook page taking responsibility for the attack on Than Than Swe.
It claimed to have carried out 1,128 attacks from last September, when the NUG announced it was launching offensive attacks on the military. It said its attacks resulted in 253 deaths and 300 injuries.
Its claim of responsibility for shooting Than Than Swe was unusual because the NUG — which did not immediately comment on the incident — has tended to distance itself from attacks on civilians that could be characterized as terrorism. It also has only loose control over the network of armed resistance groups that are collectively called the People’s Defense Force.
In addition to combat in the countryside, urban guerrillas opposed to military rule have carried out targeted killings, sabotage, arson and small bombings. Officials and members of the military have been targeted, as well as people believed to be informers or military collaborators.
The shooting comes a few days after the central bank issued a controversial order requiring that all foreign exchange earned by locals be converted into local currency at the “official rate” within “one working day”.
Under the Central Bank of Myanmar's instruction dated Sunday, all foreign currencies received by residents and businesses formed or registered in the country must be converted into kyat within one working day at the central bank's official rate, which stood at 1,850 kyat to the dollar as of Wednesday.
The official exchange rate is about 8% higher than the unofficial market rate of around 2,000 kyat to the dollar.
(with inputs from AP)
