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REGIME WATCH > TATMADAW COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
 
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief
 
Personal info

Date of Birth:
1956

Marital Status:
Married to Kyu Kyu Hla

He is on the April 2011 EU blacklist.

 


Military career
 

In March 2011, Min Aung Hlaing succeeded Sr Gen Than Shwe as Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief. He has a reputation as a hardliner and has rapidly become a rising star within the regime.

A native of Tavoy, Tenasserim Division, Min Aung Hlaing graduated from the 19th intake of the Defense Services Academy (DSA). According to sources, Min Aung Hlaing’s classmates at the military academy shunned him because of his reserved personality.

Min Aung Hlaing went on to command Light Infantry Division (LID) 44 based in Thaton, Mon State. In 2002, he was promoted to Commander of the Triangle Regional Command and became a key player in dealing with two ceasefire groups United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA).

During the Saffron Revolution, Min Aung Hlaing was among those who supported the brutal crackdown on the monk-led protests.

In June 2008, he was promoted to Chief of Bureau of Special Operations-2 (BSO-2), a position that oversees military affairs in Karenni and Shan States. As BSO-2 Chief he was responsible for the implementation of the regime’s Border Guard Force (BGF) plan in the region. Working with former Military Affairs Security chief Lt Gen Ye Myint, he pressured ceasefire groups to convert into BGFs under Tatmadaw control.

In August 2009, when the Kokang ceasefire group Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) rejected the order to be transformed into a BGF, Min Aung Hlaing oversaw the military offensive against them. The attack broke the ceasefire agreement signed in 1989 between the regime and the MNDAA. During military operations, Tatmadaw soldiers committed human rights abuses and carried out widespread looting of property in Laogai, Kokang region’s main city and MNDAA stronghold. The offensive also pushed 37, 000 refugees to flee to China.

In June 2010, Min Aung Hlaing replaced Gen Shwe Mann as Joint Chief of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

 
Ranks held
 

2008/2009 – Major General
Late 2009 – Lieutenant General
Early 2011 – General
April 2012 – Vice-Senior General
March 2013 – Senior General

 
 
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