This content was originally published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
According to a recently leaked file, Myanmar’s coup has established a committee to monitor security in the government’s villages and wards by arming and training soldiers, but observers claim that the action is intended to” trick people into joining the defense” and may lead to more instability in nearby communities.
The coup enacted a draft law in February to address army shortages and has since trained around 9, 000 volunteers, with more troops on the way. The junta has enacted a draft legislation in February to combat the junta’s mounting field loses since its 2021 coup d’etat. However, the government has suffered a devastating blow from the ground and is unable to quickly enlist troops.
According to a document signed by junta Secretary General Aung Lin Dwe and leaked on Twitter, the military on Aug. 16 formed the Women’s Security and Counter-Terrorism Central Committee to identify and arm” regulatory systems” in the investment Naypyidaw, as well as other regions, states, districts and townships.
The committee will deliver weapons and other military products in accordance with the needs of conflict-strikes, according to the document, as well as provide meals and provide medical and combat training, despite no specifying who will get the supplies.
Also, the commission will be tasked with “expanding makes” and “recruiting specialists able of using high-tech military products”.
However, experts on the ground predicted that the plan will eventually give civilians more weapons, largely enabling them to use them to combat the rebels.
” They]the junta ] have realized that they no longer have the capacity for battles, and that more troops will surrender”, said Zin Yaw, a former army captain who advises the opposition. They are attempting to deceive citizens into enlisting in the military to protect civilians.
Real purposes?
RFA Burmese’s attempts to speak with junta director Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun for reply went unanswered on Monday, and the coup has not made a public statement about the agency’s formation.  ,
But a previous military officer confirmed the agency’s development for the purpose of increasing” protection” in Myanmar’s rooms and settlements, where he said people are under normal threat of danger from conflict.
According to the former officer, who spoke to Radiofrequency on the condition of anonymity because of safety concerns, “any government can only bring out military operations properly when security prevails in nearby communities.” ” I assume that the]junta ] officials formed this committee after realizing this”.
RFA has received reports of citizens being coerced into joining the Pyu Saw Htee, a militia group the junta established in 2022 under the pretext of preserving peace and stability in remote areas.
In fact, the bands were to blame for some of the regime’s worst atrocities during its burnt earth offensive against the military opposition. The substitute groups often flame villages, treasure house, and torture and eliminate residents, allowing the defense to claim that its normal troops do not target civilians.
The establishment of the People’s Security and Counter-Terrorism Central Committee, as outlined in the leaked document, may be the clearest evidence to date of the junta’s efforts to arm and train civilian proxy forces under the guise of security enforcement.
Under plan, violence will increase.
The plan, according to Maung Maung Swe, the deputy secretary of the ministry of defense for the shadow National Unity Government, demonstrates how desperate the junta is in the face of ever-increasing troop shortages.
The junta’s continued demise on numerous fronts, he said,” the main reason for the formation of this committee is.”
He did point out that such a roll-out’s logistical constraints “unlikely to succeed” and that they could also conceivably require the purchase of weapons for regions opposed to military rule.
” Even if military equipment were provided, it could very well backfire”, he said.
Other observers cautioned against bringing weapons into local communities, which would unavoidably worsen the conflict.
Political commentator Than Soe Naing predicted that “arming communities will increase the number of urban violent attacks, as well as a rise in instability and problems within those communities.”
Since the military seized power in Myanmar more than three years ago, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, which tracks the conflict there.
