TANINTHARYI DIVISION – A soldier from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 561 based in Nyaungpin Kuin Village, Tanintharyi Township came to defect with full weapons and ammunition, the head of the Red Wing People’s Defence Team said.
It is reported that he, Aung Zaw Min, a 30-year-old soldier, who was escaped from the LIB 561 on September 10 along with an MA-3 automatic rifle, and around 100 bullets and 3 cartridges.
He said that two days after he fled, he got in touch with Red Wing People’s Defence Team, a member of the Tanintharyi Township People’s Defence Force (PDF). Ko Jek, the person in charge of the Red Wing People’s Defence Team said “When I went to receive him, we were worried about each other. I’m worried because I don’t know his purpose of coming. It is not clear if he came to fight us or not. He told me that it was raining heavily and I had to contact him through a lot of connections in the middle to call him.”
Ko Jek added that he was delighted that a member of the junta council had joined his side and that he had treated him well. Ko Jek also said that they are going to give an honorary award to Aung Zaw Min, a soldier of the Military Council who ran away from the army and came into the people’s embrace with weapons.
He said that after Aung Zaw Min, a member of the military council, fled, the terrorist soldiers of the LIB 561 split into three columns and made movements around the battalion. And there were inspections on the union highway near the Battalion.
In April of this year, a soldier of the junta council from the LIB 561 defected to Tanintharyi Township PDF with an MA-3 automatic rifle, 200 bullets, along with a grenade and some armor.