This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
Myanmar’s junta has set up a committee to oversee security in the country’s villages and wards by arming and training troops, according to a recently leaked document, but observers say the move is aimed at “tricking people into joining the military” and will create greater instability in local communities.
Amid mounting battlefield losses since its 2021 coup d’etat, the junta enacted a draft law in February to shore up troop shortages and has since trained around 9,000 recruits, with more conscripts on the way. But the military has been devastated on the ground and can’t draft soldiers fast enough to fill the void created by casualties and defections.
According to a document signed by junta Secretary General Aung Lin Dwe and leaked on Facebook, the military on Aug. 16 formed the People’s Security and Counter-Terrorism Central Committee to establish and arm “supervisory bodies” in the capital Naypyidaw, as well as other regions, states, districts and townships.
The committee will distribute weapons and other military equipment according to the needs of conflict zones, the document says, as well as provide food and conduct combat and medic training, although it does not specify who will receive the supplies.
Additionally, the committee will be tasked with “expanding forces” and “recruiting experts capable of using high-tech military equipment.”
But experts on the ground predicted that ultimately the plan will get more weapons into the hands of civilians – essentially arming them to fight the rebels.
“They [the junta] have realized that they no longer have the capacity for battles, and that more troops will surrender,” said Zin Yaw, a former army captain who advises the opposition. “They are attempting to trick people into joining the military to serve as human shields.”
True intentions?
The junta has made no public announcement of the committee’s formation and attempts by RFA Burmese to contact junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment went unanswered Monday.
But a former military officer confirmed the committee’s formation for the purpose of increasing “security” in Myanmar’s wards and villages, where he said residents are under regular threat of danger from conflict.
“Any government can only carry out military operations successfully when security prevails in local communities,” said the former officer, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns. “I assume that the [junta] officials formed this committee after realizing this.”
RFA has received reports of civilians being forcibly recruited to the Pyu Saw Htee – a militia group formed by the junta in 2022 under the pretext of maintaining peace and stability in rural areas.
In reality, the bands have been responsible for some of the junta’s worst atrocities in its scorched earth offensive against the armed opposition. The proxy groups regularly torch villages, loot property, and torture and kill residents, allowing the military to claim that its regular troops do not target civilians.
The establishment of the People’s Security and Counter-Terrorism Central Committee, as outlined in the leaked document, may be the clearest evidence to date of the junta’s efforts to arm and train civilian proxy forces under the guise of security enforcement.
Violence will increase under plan
Maung Maung Swe, the deputy secretary of the shadow National Unity Government’s ministry of defense, agreed that the plan shows the junta is becoming more desperate amid worsening troop shortages.
“There are several reasons for the formation of this committee, but the primary one is the deteriorating situation of the … junta on multiple fronts,” he said.
But he suggested that the logistical requirements of such a roll-out make it “unlikely to succeed” and come with the risk of arming communities opposed to military rule.
“Even if military equipment were provided, it could very well backfire,” he said.
Other observers warned that funneling weapons into local communities would inevitably worsen the conflict.
“Arming communities will lead to an increase in urban violent attacks, as well as greater instability and complications within those communities,” said political commentator Than Soe Naing.
According to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, which monitors the conflict in Myanmar, junta authorities have killed at least 5,518 civilians since the military seized power more than three years ago.
