Myanmar junta using veterans, militias to secure capital, as more soldiers sent to frontlines

Myanmar’s military junta is increasingly relying on army veterans and militias to provide security in Naypyitaw as it sends regular troops based in the capital to fight in other parts of the country. Sources in Naypyitaw say that there has been a notable increase in the number of retired soldiers and militia members stationed there since early June. “Soldiers who were here for years are now being redeployed to towns where fighting has broken out,” said a police officer based in the city. “We’re seeing young personnel with no prior experience being paired up with veterans,” he added. In the Thabyaykone section of Naypyitaw, which saw massive protests in the weeks after the February 2021 coup, there are at least three security checkpoints, but they are manned by only a handful of older ex-soldiers, according to people living in the area. “These days, there are only elderly soldiers providing regular security at the guard tents. The number of security personnel has also decreased,” said one resident. In the first week of June, the chair of the Naypyitaw Council, Than Tun Oo, was in Naypyitaw’s Tatkon and Lewe townships, which border areas where anti-regime groups have been active, to inspect new militia members. At least 100 militiamen are believed to be currently stationed in each of the Naypyitaw Union Territory’s eight townships. Since February, the military has been ordering villagers in Lewe Township to act as night guards amid fears of incursions by resistance forces based in neighbouring Bago Region. Residents say that militias have also been assigned to the area to ensure that the civilian watchmen remain vigilant. “Before, only soldiers came. Now they are sending militiamen. If they catch a watchman sleeping, they will curse and scold him. Sometimes they even beat him,” said one local man who has been forced to do night watch duty. In April, resistance forces launched multiple drone attacks on the Aye Lar airbase and the military headquarters in Naypyitaw, heightening the regime’s concerns about security in the Naypyitaw Union Territory, which has a total population of about 1.2 million. Last month, the junta intensified its efforts to bring former military personnel as old as 67 back into active service, as it continues to struggle to fend off attacks from groups opposed to its rule. In addition to invoking the Reserve Forces Law to get retired soldiers to re-enlist, the military has also activated a previously unused conscription law to forcibly recruit younger members into its ranks. Over the past three years, the regime has face unprecedented resistance to its rule, losing thousands of troops to casualties, defections and mass surrenders.

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