Sai Win Aung, also known as A Sai K, was killed in an artillery attack by Myanmar military forces on December 25, 2021, while reporting on refugees in southeastern Kayin state’s Myawaddy township, near the border with Thailand, according to multiple news reports and a UNESCO statement condemning the killing.
Sai Win Aung edited the Federal News Journal news website, which covers local ethnic politics, social issues, and armed conflict, according to the news reports covering his death and CPJ’s review of the outlet’s website.
A Federal News Journal article on his death headlined “Sorrow,” published on December 26, said Sai Win Aung was killed near Htee Mae War Khi village, and that the families of the victims of the artillery shelling were “deeply saddened.”
Federal News Journal director Salai Ceu Bik Thawng told CPJ by email that he encouraged Sai Win Aung to leave the commercial capital of Yangon and work in Kayin state in early December after military forces began surveilling him online and in-person.
He said it was unclear if Sai Win Aung was intentionally targeted in the artillery attack because the situation at the time of the attack was unclear as of late January 2022.
CPJ emailed Myanmar’s Ministry of Information for comment on the killing and whether any officials had been held responsible, but did not receive any response.