The body of the commander of the 18th Battalion of the Karen National Liberation Army was found with a bullet wound to the head in the Haungthayaw River in Kawkareik Township of Karen State on August 20.

The commander, Lt Col Kyi Linn, was reported missing by the Karen National Union 6th Brigade on August 16, amid speculation that he had been involved in a boat accident. His body was found entangled in fishing net.

He had been shot in the head, according to a lieutenant colonel in the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army who asked to remain anonymous.

He said there are suspicions the commander was killed by his own soldiers. The DKBA broke away from the KNU in 1995.

Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the KNU, said the KNU has not confirmed the events surrounding Kyi Linn’s death.
Pictures of the body were widely available in the Burmese community in Mae Sot, Thailand.

Anonymous sources said unconfirmed reports speculate that he was shot by business partners in the logging business or by his own soldiers over a leadership dispute.

Kyi Linn was heavily engaged in the timber business, and he had also been holding meetings with officials from the Burmese State Peace and Development Council, the DKBA and other groups.

Kyi Linn owned two houses in villages near Kawkareik, but he usually lived at a home in Thounzethounsu Village. Villagers in the area are reluctant to speculate about how he died.

A former KNU soldier who lives in Kawkareik said Burmese army soldiers have repeatedly questioned him about the death, trying to establish the circumstances.

Kyi Linn was interviewed by The Irrawaddy on August 15. He said he had met with Lt Col Min Chit Oo of the Burmese Southeast Military Affairs Security department on August 11. He said he was not considering any plan to surrender to the Burmese military government.