Myanmar’s military is being weakened by desertions, casualties and feeble recruitment and has reportedly asked Yangon and Ayeyarwady administrators to recruit militia members instead.
Administrators say they have been told to provide at least three men per ward or village to join militias.
A Seikgyikanaungto Township ward administrator in Yangon Region said: “The district administrator told us at a meeting that each ward must give men. We said our wards were peaceful but he said each ward needed to provide three men so we did. He said they will be armed after the training but there has been no training so far.”
Townships affected include Kawhmu, Kungyangon, Twante, Dala, Seikgyikanaungto, Hlaing Tharyar, Shwepyithar, Kyauktan, Hmawbi, Mayangone, North Dagon and East Dagon in Yangon Region and Ngapudaw, Thabaung, Athoke, Kangyidaunt, Yegyi and Kyaunggon in Ayeyarwady Region, according to administrators.
Former captain Htet Myat, who defected after the 2021 coup, said: “The regime lacks combat forces. The casualties keep rising and soldiers are sent from checkpoints to the frontline, leaving gaps. The junta controls less territory and commanders are looking to seize recruits in areas they still hold.
“Militias have been increasingly used at checkpoints and for security patrols and in clearance operations and blockades in areas out of its reach.”
Militias hamper resistance combat operations and logistics, he added.
Forced recruitment reportedly began in mid-2022 when villages and wards were told to provide three to five young men. Conscription has expanded this year and in some areas young men were chosen by lottery.
Conscription has been mainly reported in Ngapudaw, Thabaung, Kangyidaunt, Athoke, Yekyi and Kyaunggon townships in Ayeyarwady Region, where a majority of villages have supported the military and its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party.
At least 30 civilians from two Ngatheingkhyonng town wards and two villages in Ngapudaw Township underwent training at Battalion 271 in Pathein, the Ayeyarwady regional capital, last month.
In Shan and Kachin states, junta-affiliated militias are involved in fighting with ethnic armed organizations and resistance forces.
Sagaing Region’s chief minister recently told the State Administrative Council in Naypyitaw that more than 2,000 weapons had been supplied to 77 militias in the region since the 2021 coup.
The militias are concentrated in Kantbalu District in Sagaing, led by influential monk U Wasawa of the ultranationalist Association for Protection of Race and Religion or Ma Ba Tha. The groups are involved in raiding and looting villages.
Last month, the regime started arming militias in Bago Region, which borders Naypyitaw. The capital is increasingly threatened by resistance attacks.
The regime supplied arms, other military equipment and food for militias in Pyay in the west of Bago and Taungoo in the east, according to junta media.
