Strife-torn Myanmar marks 77th anniversary of the assassination of independence hero Gen. Aung San

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has held a wreath-laying ceremony in the country’s largest city to mark the 77th anniversary of the assassination of the country’s fallen independence heroes, including Gen. Aung San, the father of the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Neither Suu Kyi, who is imprisoned, nor Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the current head of the army-led government, attended this year’s main ceremony Friday at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum in Yangon. Min Aung Hlaing led the army’s 2021 seizure of power from Suu Kyi’s elected government. Suu Kyi’s estranged older brother, Aung San Oo, laid a wreath in front of their father’s tomb. The ceremony has had a lower profile since the 2021 military takeover.