According to a statement from the Karen National Union (KNU) Central Committee, a newly recruited soldier who was forcibly conscripted by the military in Moe Town, Bago Region, has defected to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) with his service weapon and ammunition. The defector, Ko Thant Aung (aka) Ko Thant, was previously a YBS bus driver who had been unlawfully arrested and forced into military service by the military council forces.
On May 5, while stationed at Pyada Camp under Light Infantry Battalion 439 in Moe Town, he escaped with an MA-11 rifle, three ammunition magazines, and one hundred rounds of ammunition before surrendering to KNLA Battalion 8. Ko Thant Aung had been living in the military camp against his will after being forcibly recruited through the military council’s coercive conscription practices, and he took the opportunity to escape when it presented itself.
In recognition of Ko Thant Aung’s defection, KNLA Battalion 8 and local township authorities awarded him a reward of one million kyats. The KNU Central Committee has extended an invitation to other soldiers who have been unlawfully arrested and forced into military service by the military council to defect to nearby ethnic armed revolutionary organizations or People’s Defense Forces. This demonstrates the ongoing pattern of forced recruitment by the military council and the resistance’s efforts to provide safe haven for those who choose to escape such forced service.
