Lieutenant-General Than Hlaing ( my, သန်းလှိုင်; born in 1965) is a Burmese politician and army officer who served as the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Chief of the Myanmar Police Force (MPF), appointed by the

State Administration Council The State Administration Council ( my, နိုင်ငံတော်စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကောင်စီ; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Comm ...

on 2 February 2021, in the aftermath of the

2021 Myanmar coup d'état A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then veste ...

. He previously served as the head of Eastern Central Command and North Western Command. The MPF falls within the jurisdiction of the

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, currently headed by

Myanmar Army The Myanmar Army ( my, တပ်မတော်(ကြည်း), ) is the largest branch of the Tatmadaw, Armed Forces (''Tatmadaw'') of Myanmar (Burma) and has the primary responsibility of conducting land-based military operations. The My ...

Lieutenant General

Soe Htut Soe Htut ( my, စိုးထွဋ်; born 29 March 1961) is a Burmese military officer and incumbent Minister for Home Affairs of Myanmar. Soe Htut is a career soldier, and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant General. Early life and edu ...

. The chief of Police usually holds the rank of Police

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. However, Than Hlaing holds the rank of

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. He was replaced by Major General Zin Min Htet in May 2022.

Sanctions

Since 18 February 2021,

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

and the

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

have imposed sanctions on "Than Hlaing" for responsibility for serious human rights violations by the

Myanmar Police Force The Myanmar Police Force ( my, မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ရဲတပ်ဖွဲ့), formerly the People's Police Force (), is the law enforcement agency of Myanmar. It was established in 1964 as an independent department under ...

. The UK sanctions include a freezing of his assets under the UK and a ban on entry or transit to the UK. Since 22 March 2021, The

U.S. Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

has imposed sanctions on "Than Hlaing", in response to the Burmese military's continued campaign of violence and intimidation against peaceful protesters and civil society, pursuant to Executive Order 14014. Under Than Hlaing's leadership, the Burma Police Force has gone from attacking peaceful protesters with water cannons, rubber bullets, and tear gas, to using live ammunition. The US sanctions include a freezing of his assets under the US and a ban on transactions with a US person. Since 22 March 2021, the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

has imposed sanctions on "Than Hlaing" for responsibility for the military coup and the subsequent military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators, pursuant to Council Regulation (EU) 2021/479 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/480 which amended Council Regulation (EU) No 401/2013. The EU sanctions include a freezing of assets under member countries of the EU and a ban on entry or transit to the countries.

Personal life

He was one of 11 siblings in the family. His younger brother Soe Moe Hlaing, was a pro-democracy activist and murdered in regime custody.

References

Living people 1965 births Burmese generals {{Myanmar-bio-stub

Sanctions

Personal life

See also

References