A defected soldier from Light Infantry Battalion 60 based in Kyaukkyi has revealed that the military council is using new recruits as human shields in frontline battles. Ko Kyaw Min Khaing, who defected on August 12th from the frontline outpost of LIB 60 in Kyaukkyi Township and sought refuge with the People’s Defense Force Battalion 2 in Bago Region, shared his experiences of the military’s exploitation of new recruits.
Ko Kyaw Min Khaing was initially forcibly recruited when he visited the Aung Mingalar Highway Terminal in North Okkalapa Township, Yangon, for travel purposes. After his capture, he was sent to Artillery Unit 505 before being required to attend military training at Mogok State High School 2. He was then transferred to the No. 1 Supply and Transport Training School in Taungoo, where he underwent an additional two weeks of refresher training before being ultimately assigned to LIB 60 in Kyaukkyi.
The defected soldier exposed the discriminatory treatment and oppression of new recruits within the military. He detailed how officers would abuse drugs and alcohol, threatening new recruits at gunpoint while intoxicated. Most critically, he revealed that new recruits are deliberately used as human shields in frontline combat operations. The systematic abuse and exploitation of new recruits has become a standard practice within the military council’s forces, leading many to seek escape despite the risks involved.
While military strategist Lieutenant Colonel Tin Lin Oo has been spreading propaganda claiming that defectors who surrender to the People’s Defense Force would be beheaded, Ko Kyaw Min Khaing’s experience proves otherwise. He testified that the PDF warmly welcomes defectors, contrary to the military’s fear-mongering tactics. The military council has been conducting monthly recruitment training sessions since April 2024, now reaching their 16th batch of recruits, continuing their pattern of forced recruitment and exploitation of civilians for military purposes.
