In U Shit Pin City, Pantaung Township, Bago Region, Ward Administrator Aung Ko of Pyitawtha Ward is forcing local residents to cook food as unpaid labor and deliver food packages to the frontline. As military council troops are reportedly starving during battles on the Bago Yoma mountain range, the ward administrator is making residents take turns cooking meals by street, according to local sources.
The ward administrator claims that military council soldiers on the Bago Yoma frontlines are surviving only on gourd pulp and three dried fish, using this as justification to force residents to cook meals according to a rotation schedule by street. Residents are required to deliver the cooked food to the administrator’s office. Local sources report that Administrator Aung Ko is systematically coercing civilians to provide food support for the military forces through mandatory cooking assignments organized by household lists.
The ongoing battles on Bago Yoma are reportedly very intense, with high casualties on the military council side. Remaining military council troops are experiencing low morale, with increasing numbers of soldiers fleeing or returning to rear areas without orders. Due to these heavy losses, administrators and hundred-household heads in U Shit Pin City, along with military supporters, are organizing food packages for the troops. Military council gambling den operators and gamblers are also collecting donations of bottled water, soft drinks, dried fish, fermented fish paste, betel leaves, and dried noodles for the soldiers.
