The general secretary of the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS) was shot dead by an unidentified gunman this morning around 8:30, according to sources from both the Chinese and Thai border.

Circumstances surrounding the assassination of Min Ein aka Lin Hongshen (58), however, are not yet available.

Meanwhile, the Network Media Group (NMG) has a slightly different version: that he was shot while taking his morning walk in front of his house around 6:00. His companion, also unidentified, was injured.  

“All those living in Mongla have been instructed to remain indoors,” said a resident of Maesai, opposite Burma’s Tachilek. “Vehicles going in are allowed to pass the checkpoints, but outgoing ones are not.”

Min Ein, said to be a native of Myitkyina, had joined the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and fought alongside NDAA leader Sai Leun aka Lin Mingxian. Despite their common family name Lin, they are not kin.

“He was seen by some as a soft liner (one who advocated an accommodation policy toward Burma’s ruling junta),” said a source on the Chinese border. “But others say he was a reasonable man and supportive of the efforts to achieve unity among the opposition.”

The NDAA, together with the Shan State Army (SSA) North, are the United Wa State Army (UWSA)’s closest allies. The three, together with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and New Mon State Party (NMSP), are resisting Naypyitaw’s pressure to convert them into Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard Forces (BGFs), a proposal made last April.