AYEWARWDDY DIVISION – At least 20 soldiers of the junta council, including the regimental police sergeant from the military headquarters of Pathein’s Southwest Command and the military recruitment regiment of the Htaung Kon, have defected, according to military sources.
Fearing that they will be sent to the front lines in Northern Shan State and Rakhine State, at least seven regimental police sergeants of the Pathein-based Southwest Command (Na Ta Ka) defected on November 30th, and their respective family members are being held in the army.
“It’s been four days; the regimental police sergeants from the army have been running. After they knew that they had to go to the front line of Shan North, they ran away overnight. In the battalion, of course, the information was kept from getting leaked. Many people are trying to run. When this happened, everything tightened. The family members of the sergeant who defected from the army have been arrested in the compound and not allowed to go outside,” the news source connected to South Western Command said.
In addition, at least 13 members of the junta council in the military recruitment regiment on Htaung Kon Road in Taung Por Tan area have defected because they were afraid that they would be sent to the front line, so inspections have been tightened in the junta council units and around the city, according to military sources.
“There are more than 10 soldiers in the Htaung Kon recruitment compound. They ran without permission. They all ran away while it was on sentry. Those who run are only those who are listed to be sent to the front line. No one in the army is allowed to leave the compound. They are looking for names and pictures in places around the city,” said a military source close to the army recruitment unit.
Similarly, inside the Pathein-based South Western Command, officers in the army are afraid of being sent to the front line, and sergeants and soldiers of other ranks who are not in good personal relationships are being pressured to move to the front line in northern Shan State for various reasons, according to an army source.
