TNLA’s recruitment plans alarm civilians in Mogok

Residents of Mogok, Mandalay Region—a town controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA)—are expressing concern after the Ta’ang armed group revealed plans last week to enlist civilians in its new “city defence force”. According to a woman living in Mogok, after TNLA officials summoned them to a meeting last week, the town’s neighbourhood administrators told residents on Monday that civilian men and women between 18 and 45 would be required to serve in a city defence force to be organised by the Ta’ang group. “They said they would provide weapons to form the city defense force, but [the residents] refuse to accept it,” she said. “They said it's mandatory and implied they would forcibly take people from their homes if they didn’t join voluntarily. People here are discussing how to unite and protect themselves if this happens.”She added that residents of the town were preparing to submit a letter protesting the TNLA recruitment policy. Supported by allies, the TNLA—commonly called the Ta’ang army—captured Mogok in July 2024 during the second phase of the Operation 1027 offensive against military forces in and near northern Shan State. Under the administration that the TNLA installed in Mogok, most residents who previously fled due to fighting in the township have now returned. According to a Mogok resident in his 30s, the TNLA has informed locals of its plans to recruit the town’s civilian residents for combat training. “Most people refuse to accept it. Nobody wants to join their army. They say they’ll provide one month of training, and then you'll have to guard your own ward or village,” the man said.According to another, female resident of the township, objections to the TNLA’s plans to establish city defence forces are also coming from some rural villages outside Mogok’s urban wards.Residents in northern Shan State—which shares borders with Mogok Township to the north, south, and east—have said the TNLA has established city defence forces in every city or town under its control. However, the Ta’ang armed group may face difficulties in Mogok due to the town’s large Bamar population and diversity of ethnic communities. The TNLA—a member of the tripartite Brotherhood Alliance—succeeded in capturing 12 towns from regime forces during the alliance’s Operation 1027 offensive in 2023 and 2024. TNLA soldier and two PDF fighters from the Mogok Tactical Unit near Mogok in early July 2024 (Photo: Myanmar Now) Myanmar Now has attempted to reach TNLA spokesperson Lway Yay Oo for more information about the planned formation of a city defence force in Mogok, but has yet to receive a response. Mogok was home to a population of primarily Bamar, Kachin, and Shan ethnicity as of late 2019, according to public records. The town and its surroundings are known for the production of precious rubies, and many locals are involved in the mining and trade of gemstones. There is also a community of Ta’ang or Palaung people among the town’s inhabitants, and the TNLA has operated in and near Mogok since before Myanmar’s 2021 coup. According to the woman living in Mogok who spoke with Myanmar Now, a requirement for all working-age adults to serve in the city defence force would practically exclude only children and the elderly, causing problems for local people’s livelihoods.Mogok’s economy has suffered recently despite the town’s past involvement in the lucrative gemstone trade, she said, noting that the authorities’ failure to give priority to Mogok residents in granting mining permits had added to existing problems stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, coup, and regional conflicts. “They said in their meeting that the people have returned and their businesses are doing well, but that’s open to dispute,” she said, referring to the TNLA. “No one is allowed to do business. People manage only because their children send money back from foreign countries. It is mainly only [the TNLA] doing business.”The Ta’ang organisation claimed in November to have banned large-scale mining operations previously monopolised by the Myanmar military and its associates, while permitting small-scale mining in the township. The TNLA also controls Kyaukme Township, northern Shan State, which borders Mogok Township on the east and south, while resistance forces commanded by the publicly mandated National Unity Government control Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin Township to the west. TNLA troops in 2022 (Photo: Myat Pan/ Myanmar Now) The TNLA announced a law in February 2024 requiring people of Ta’ang nationality to perform military service. The law made service compulsory for Ta’ang (Palaung) males between 16 and 35 and required that at least one member of any household with two or more brothers to enlist, with some exemptions. The group also accepted volunteers of other ethnicities. The TNLA, which has an estimated membership between 8,000 and 10,000, is organised into seven brigades and 38 battalions, and is equipped with modern assault rifles, mortars, and auxiliary weapons, according to military analysts. The Myanmar military has continued its forcible conscription of young people throughout Myanmar since reviving a decade-old service requirement early last year, compelling anti-junta ethnic armed groups and resistance organisations to step up their own recruitment efforts.

TNLA’s recruitment plans alarm civilians in Mogok

The people of Mogok, Mandalay Region feared that the Ta’ang ethnic armed group that controls the town would coerce them into joining their security forces after they informed town administrators of new service requirements last week

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