Guwahati: Myanmar’s air force chief General Maung Maung Kyaw, who oversaw airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians while businesses owned by his family enriched themselves, has been forced to retire.
The military regime did not give a reason for its unexpected decision to replace him with Chief of Staff (Air Force) Lieutenant General Tun Aung. General Maung Maung Kyaw, who was once regarded as being close to coup leader Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing, is 58 and still two years short of the official retirement age in Myanmar.
But junta sources said that the decision was in accordance with military retirement policy because General Maung Maung Kyaw had already served as head of the air force for four years.
“There have been other occasions where the military extended the retirement age for persons it wished to keep,” said striking military captain Nyi Thuta. Perhaps the coup leader believes the general doesn’t listen to him and hence refuses to keep him.”
General Maung Maung Kyaw, on the other hand, will remain a member of the military regime’s ruling body, the State Administration Council (SAC).
In February 2021, the US sanctioned the general for being a senior military officer and the SAC accountable for lethal crackdowns on peaceful anti-coup protestors.
It may be mentioned that General Maung Maung Kyaw is the youngest son of General Thura Kyaw Htin, the military dictatorship’s air force leader in the 1980s.