In U Shit Pin town of Pantaung Township, Bago Region, Ward Administrator Aung Ko of Pyitawtha Ward is forcing local residents to cook meals as unpaid labor and deliver them to the frontline battlefield. As fighting continues on the Bago Yoma mountain range, the military council troops are reportedly starving, leading the ward administrator to coerce residents to take turns cooking meals by street and deliver them to the military, according to local sources.
The ward administrator claims that military troops on the Bago Yoma frontline are surviving only on gourd pulp and three dried fish, using this as justification to force civilians to cook meals. Currently, residents of Pyitawtha Ward are being required to cook meals on a rotating schedule according to the administrator’s orders and must deliver the prepared food to the administrator’s office. The military council troops are reportedly suffering heavy casualties in the intense fighting on Bago Yoma, with remaining soldiers experiencing low morale, many deserting or returning to rear areas without orders.
Due to the military’s losses, administrators and hundred-household heads in U Shit Pin town are organizing ward-by-ward meal preparation to show support for the military. Additionally, military-affiliated gambling operators are collecting donations for soldiers including bottled water, soft drinks, dried fish, fermented fish paste, betel leaves, and dried noodles. The forced labor and coerced support comes as fighting continues to intensify in the region, with mounting casualties and desertion among military council forces whose morale continues to deteriorate amid the ongoing conflict.
