A newly recruited soldier named Myo Zin, who was forcibly conscripted by the military council at a checkpoint on Sagaing Bridge connecting Sagaing and Mandalay regions, has defected to revolutionary forces. According to Seikphyu Lone Tiger, Myo Zin was traveling on his motorcycle from his village in Sagaing Township when he was stopped and forcibly recruited by military council troops at their checkpoint on Sagaing Bridge on February 26th. During his capture, the military council confiscated all his possessions, including his motorcycle.
Following his capture, Myo Zin was sent to the military training camp in Meiktila Township on March 17th, where he was forced to undergo three months of military training. After completing training, he was transferred to Battalion 251 in Pakokku Township on June 10th. He was subsequently moved to Division 101 in Pakokku on June 25th, and then to Battalion 252 on July 2nd. Finally, on July 14th, he managed to establish contact with revolutionary forces and successfully defected from the military council’s forces.
During his time at Battalion 252, Myo Zin witnessed the severe casualties suffered by military council forces along supply routes to Pauk Township. He reported that military convoys were constantly attacked by revolutionary forces along these routes, resulting in numerous military casualties. The battalion had to conduct funeral services almost daily, though there was clear discrimination in how these services were handled – officers’ funerals were given priority while regular soldiers’ deaths were often neglected. According to his testimony, the bodies of soldiers killed in combat were often hastily buried along the convoy routes wherever they fell. This account provides a glimpse into the significant losses being sustained by the military council forces and their discriminatory treatment of lower-ranking personnel, even in death.
