NAYPYITAW, 15 August 2021, (TON): Four unidentified men stabbed and killed the chair of the junta-allied National Democratic Force’s (NDF) Kayah (Karenni) State chapter at his home in the capital of Loikaw.

According to a member of a local charity team that helped his family bring his body to the Loikaw public hospital “seventy-year-old Han Thar died on the spot after being stabbed three times in the neck and once in the chest.”

According to a woman who lives in the same neighbourhood, the men who stabbed Han Thar came to his home, where he ran a small electronics shop, looking to repair a television set. 

She told media “there were police in front of his house and I saw blood on the ground.”

Han Thar ran as an NDF regional candidate for Loikaw Constituency (1) in the 2020 general election but lost.

The motive behind the murder was not known at the time of reporting, and the perpetrators were still at large. His death is believed to be the latest in a series of killings and bomb attacks in recent months that target military authorities and those perceived to be their collaborators.