Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has been unable to send reinforcements or supplies to junta troops who have been suffering heavy defeats on multiple fronts – from northern Shan State to Karenni (Kayah), Rakhine and Chin states and Sagaing Region – over the past month. So, he has showered them with what he can give them: honorary titles and medals.
On Thursday, he bestowed medals for gallantry on junta soldiers, including two colonels killed in the nationwide resistance offensive, police, correctional department officers and other government employees. A total of 147 personnel were awarded.
The highest honor awarded on Thursday was the Thura medal. One of the four recipients was Colonel Aung Zeya who was killed in fighting with the Brotherhood Alliance in northern Shan State’s Muse Township. Another recipient, Colonel Myo Ko Ko Win, was killed when a junta base in Mon State’s Kyaikmaraw Township was attacked by combined forces of the Karen National Liberation Army and People’s Defense Forces.
Min Aung Hlaing, who has primarily remained inside the junta’s nerve center of Naypyitaw since the launch of Operation 1027 in late October, said the medals were awarded to those who displayed excellent performance in defense and security duties.
Presentation of the medals was widely viewed as an attempt to boost the morale of junta soldiers after more than 20 towns and over 300 outposts had fallen into resistance hands in a little more than one month since Operation 1027 was launched.
Hundreds of junta soldiers, in some cases entire battalions, have surrendered after receiving no support or reinforcements from Naypyitaw. The heavily depleted regime has been forced to urge deserters to return to barracks.
Recently, around 400 civil servants working under the military regime defected in Sagaing Region’s Indaw, Wuntho, Katha, Tigyaing and Kawlin towns. Civilian administration has been restored in Saigan Region’s Kawlin Town after it was seized by the civilian National Unity Government last month. Junta civil servants also switched to people’s township administrations in other towns.
This forced Min Aung Hlaing to include civil servants among the medal recipients on Thursday, critics say.
Previously, Min Aung Hlaing even awarded himself and his wife new titles. He has conferred honorary titles on hundreds of former generals, politicians, artists and Russian officials since leading a coup in February 2021.
