Three young soldiers who fled the front lines in Ayeyarwady Region were executed by Myanmar junta forces on April 7 after being recaptured, according to eyewitnesses.
With their hands tied behind their backs, the victims were reportedly shot dead one by one. The new recruits were around 20-years-old, who had recently been conscripted under the military service law.
“There’s a small stupa in front of the monastery where the three of them were killed,” a witness told Myanmar Now. “All three were shot dead there. I arrived just after they were killed.”
Sources say the four young soldiers fled with their weapons on the morning of April 7 while on patrol in Ngathaingchaung, Yegyi Township. The men were shot near the monastery on the edge of Kwin Chaung Village—home to about 1,000 households. The junta then forced villagers to dig their graves and bury them, according to eyewitnesses.
The junta has been deploying newly conscripted troops to Ayeyarwady Region villages near the Rakhine border as it struggles to hold back the Arakan Army (AA), a powerful ethnic armed group based in Rakhine State. The AA has been launching offensives across the Rakhine Yoma mountain range since last year.
‘They had wounds in their chests,’ Roughly seven miles west of Ngathaingchaung, the group of escaped conscripted soldiers asked a local for directions—unaware the man was a former village head and junta loyalist, residents told Myanmar Now.
The former village head, Myint Htay, who had previously served as a traffic police officer, deceived the young men by offering to help them and took them to a monastery in the village.
Soon after, about 20 junta troops from Artillery Battalion 344, near Myauksan Village located about four miles north, arrived at the monastery. The village head had tipped off the military.
Led by a captain, a group of junta troops arrived at the monastery, sources said. One of the young conscripted soldiers, who was using the toilet at the time, managed to escape. The other three were arrested, their hands tied behind their backs and soon to be shot dead. According to sources, the conscripted soldiers were forced to reveal where they had hidden their guns and ammunition before being executed.
“They had wounds on their chests,” an eyewitness told Myanmar Now. “ And their heads were blown open.”
Two of the executed men were wearing military uniforms with badges from the Light Infantry Division 22 (LID 22), based in Hpa-An, Karen State. The other was simply wearing a vest and shorts.
Under Myanmar’s mandatory conscription law, which requires all men aged 18 to 35 to serve, many newly drafted young soldiers have been sent to Artillery Battalion 344. Locals say the recruits are now carrying out daily patrols in surrounding villages.
Myanmar Now attempted to contact Maung Maung Than, the Minister of Social Affairs and spokesperson for the junta’s Ayeyarwady Region administration, but did not receive a response.
The AA reaches Ayeyarwady
Since fighting escalated in October 2023, the AA has seized nearly all of Rakhine State, including the town of Ann, where the junta’s Western Regional Command was based. The AA has since advanced into Ayeyarwady, Bago, and Magway regions connecting to the Rakhine Yoma mountain range. They have been involved in fierce battles over the last year.
The AA and allied resistance forces are advancing into Ayeyarwady Region, aiming to cut key junta supply routes into Rakhine State. Battles are ongoing in Thabaung, Yegyi, and Lemyethna townships, with AA troops recently reaching villages along the Pathein River, locals say. Among the 14 states and regions, Ayeyarwady Region retains the fewest active junta battalions.
The junta’s Southwestern Command is headquartered in Pathein, the capital of Ayeyarwady Region. The command base oversees two light infantry battalions, nine infantry battalions, and two artillery battalions. The Pammawaddy Naval Station, a key military base, is located on Hainggyi Island.
Artillery Battalions 344 and 505 are based in Yegyi and Kangyidaunt townships, respectively. In areas where AA forces are advancing, Light Infantry Battalion 308 is stationed in Thabaung, while Infantry Battalions 51 and 18 are based in Myanaung and Hinthada.
Forced to fight at the front
Since activating the long-dormant People’s Military Service Law in early 2024, Myanmar’s junta has forcibly conscripted tens of thousands of civilians, including many young men with no prior military experience. The law mandates compulsory service for men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27.
By March 2025, the junta had launched 11 training rounds, each reportedly enrolling 5,000 recruits—bringing the total to an estimated 55,000. In response, thousands have gone into hiding, fled the country, or paid bribes to avoid being drafted.
Initially, the junta announced that new young soldiers would not be sent to the front lines. However, reports have started to surface suggesting that many young men are forced to serve at the frontlines immediately after training. And although many have managed to escape, others have been captured by resistance forces, or killed or wounded in battles across the country.
“The soldiers were there, and they forced some villagers at gunpoint to bury the three of them right there,” the eyewitness said. “They [junta soldiers] told the villagers, ‘Bury them here.’ So the villagers had no choice but to do it.”
