The KNLA Central Headquarters has announced that a new soldier, Htet Myat Win, who was forcibly conscripted into military service due to conflicts with the ward administrator in Pyay Township, Bago Region, has defected from the Aung Zeya Column, Infantry Battalion 338, and joined the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). Htet Myat Win, who resided on 36th Street in Bogyoke Ward, Pyay, was arrested as a porter and sent to military training after having disputes with the ward administrator. He was subsequently assigned to Infantry Battalion 338 under the Southeastern Military Command’s Aung Zeya Column.
The defected soldier revealed that his conscription into the military was through forced porter recruitment, explaining that the ward administrator, who harbored ill feelings toward him and his family, had him forcibly enlisted for financial gain. He disclosed severe instances of abuse within the military, describing how he was beaten until his ear bled and faced arbitrary violence even during meals. In his final experience of abuse before defecting, he suffered a split lip from being struck. He detailed the systematic oppression and violence perpetrated against new recruits within the military ranks.
Htet Myat Win also exposed how the military council spreads false propaganda among new recruits, claiming that defectors would be beheaded, while in reality, defectors are warmly welcomed by resistance forces. He urged other new soldiers serving under the military council to consider defecting. According to KNU sources, despite the military council’s efforts to recapture Myawaddy city through the state-level Aung Zeya Column led by Deputy Military Leader Soe Win, the operation has failed to reach its objective and has suffered significant casualties and defections, leading to a substantial defeat for the Aung Zeya military operation.
