More than 400 junta troops and police officers have surrendered or fled bases across Myanmar since Operation 1027 began on October 27 in northern Shan State.
Anti-regime reports compiled by The Irrawaddy suggest at least 447 junta personnel have given up their weapons and surrendered in northern Shan State, Kayah, Chin, Rakhine and Mon states and Sagaing and Magwe regions within three weeks.
The actual number might be higher as increasing numbers of junta positions are abandoned.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, one of three Brotherhood Alliance groups that launched Operation 1027, reported on Friday that more than 100 junta personnel had been killed or injured and over 300 surrendered since October 27.
Light Infantry Battalion 129, including 127 soldiers and 134 relatives led by Major Kyaw Ye Aung, surrendered on November 12 in Laukkaing Township, northern Shan State, the group reported.
The alliance said Maj Kyaw Ye Aung would always be held in the highest regard for his compassionate act of safely evacuating over 200 people from the barracks and preventing further deaths.
Each defector was granted 1 million kyats (about US$476) and evacuated to safety, the Brotherhood Alliance said. On Friday it urged all junta personnel to surrender and pledged to ensure their safety and dignity.
On October 30, 41 Light Infantry Brigade 143 troops surrendered to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), of the Brotherhood Alliance, and agreed to abandon their base near Kan Mong village in Kunlong Township.
The MNDAA said it provided travel expenses to the soldiers and allowed them to return to their families.
At least 15 pro-junta militia members in Kokang on the Chinese border surrendered on October 31, according to the MNDAA.
U Maung Maung Swe, spokesman for the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Defense, said junta troops are fleeing, being killed and surrendering.
“Their commanders have lied and they know they will lose. If they continue to protect [junta chief] Min Aung Hlaing, they will only endanger themselves and their families,” he said.
The spokesman said many other junta units had contacted the ministry to defect while refusing to give details.
In Kayah State, 38 junta soldiers surrendered this week after the reported death of at least 110 troops stationed at Loikaw University in the state capital.
The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force said the troops were being treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions and given medical treatment.
In Chin State, seven junta soldiers, including a major, from the Reh base surrendered on Monday as resistance forces took control of the Indian border town of Rihkawdar in Falam Township.
Six resistance fighters were killed and more than 15 wounded in the fighting, according to Chin groups.
An estimated 43 soldiers fled to Mizoram in India during the battle and another 29 others crossed the border on Thursday, according to Reuters.
In Mon State, 23 junta troops from a group of 50 reinforcements surrendered to resistance groups after losing 14 comrades, including a battalion commander, in Kyaikmayaw Township. Another five soldiers were detained in clashes.
Junta personnel in Rakhine abandoned nearly 40 positions on Monday amid Arakan Army (AA) attacks.
The AA said on Tuesday that 22 junta personnel at A Pauk Wa village police station in Kyauktaw Township surrendered with their weapons. Six other junta police from another two bases also surrendered, the armed group said.
Around 30 personnel at the central police station in Pauktaw Township reportedly surrendered to the AA on Wednesday night.
Bases have also been abandoned in Kawlin, Kalaw and Salingyi in Sagaing Region, Gangaw Township in Magwe Region and Shwegyin Township in Bago Region.
A military analyst, who requested not to be named, said junta troops no longer had the will to fight because of the absence of public support, increasing defeats and the lack of reinforcements.
“Defeats make troops demoralized. In northern Shan State they have faced significant losses and morale is low,” he said, predicting that more troops would surrender and defect.
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun on Tuesday said smaller positions were combining in response to the growing numbers of junta troops abandoning their bases, while refusing to comment on reports of troops surrendering.
