YANGON, July 19, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Myanmar's junta chief on Saturday attended 
annual commemorations for the country's assassinated independence hero for 
the first time since the military seized power more than four years ago.

Known affectionately as "Bogyoke" (General), Aung San led Myanmar's battle 
for independence from Britain but was gunned down in July 1947, just months 
before his dream was finally realised.

His daughter Aung San Suu Kyi -- who was two at the time of his death -- 
became a democracy figurehead, Nobel laureate, and nemesis of the military.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing attended the wreath-laying ceremony Saturday at 
the Martyrs' Mausoleum in Yangon, the former capital, footage broadcast by 
state media MRTV showed.

He was joined at the monument next to the famous Shwedagon Pagoda by other 
top military generals commemorating Aung San's killing.

It is the first time Min Aung Hlaing has attended the event since he took 
power in 2021, and comes as his military fights anti-coup forces around the 
country and prepares to hold an election that has been criticised by 
international monitors.

Born in 1915 under British colonial rule, Aung San became leader of 
nationalist fighters in what was then Burma -- making him the founder of 
Myanmar's military.

He remains a deeply revered figure and a core factor behind his daughter's 
enduring popularity.

She has been detained since the coup and spent her 80th birthday last month -
- and Saturday's remembrance of her father's killing -- in junta detention 
serving a raft of lengthy sentences.