A top executive from a major Myanmar telecoms firm was shot dead on Thursday, the military said, the most senior figure to be hit in a spate of assassinations of junta-linked officials.

The finance chief of Mytel, one of the country's four main carriers and owned by the military, was gunned down outside his home in Yangon.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the generals seized power in a February coup, sparking massive protests and a bloody military crackdown on dissent.

Self-declared civilian "people's defence forces" have sprung up to fight back, and dissidents have also targeted officials perceived to be working with the junta.

Mytel commercial chief and ex-army major Thein Aung, 56, "was killed with gunshot wounds by an armed terrorist" outside his house in the commercial hub Yangon on Thursday morning, the junta said in a statement.

His wife was also shot and was receiving treatment in hospital, it added.

Across the country there are almost daily killings of low-level junta officials or alleged informers, with details murky and reprisals from the military often following quickly.

No group has yet claimed the attack on Thein Aung -- who would be the highest-profile victim of a dissident killing.

Mytel is a venture between Myanmar's military and Viettel, which is operated by Vietnam's military, and one of the country's four national carriers.

In September anti-junta troops said they had targeted at least a dozen of the company's mobile phone masts across restive Sagaing region and Chin state in an effort to deprive the junta of revenue.