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Defectors and prisoners of battle is usually a precious supply of knowledge to resistance forces, however intel could be tough to confirm, and so they typically turn into a burden to their hosts.
By FRONTIER
Ko Thet* had needed to abandon the navy since 2016 nevertheless it was solely 5 years later, after the coup, that he might lastly seize the chance – thanks partly to a tip from his mom.
As an ethnic minority, he felt ostracised within the Bamar-dominated Tatmadaw however rose to the rank of captain and plane engineer, gaining precious expertise he has since shared with anti-junta forces. Today, he’s placing his coaching to good use as a sniper within the Cobra Column, a resistance group in Kayin State beneath the joint command of the parallel Nationwide Unity Authorities and the Karen Nationwide Union, certainly one of Myanmar’s oldest and largest ethnic armed teams.
“I solely joined the navy to obtain an schooling, however I by no means actually felt like I slot in. Earlier than the coup, I used to be too scared to go away. I knew that the navy would try to cease me. However after the coup, there have been so many individuals who needed to defect that I lastly noticed my likelihood to get out,” Ko Thet informed Frontier.
It was his mom who offered the important thing, telling him to get on social media and get in touch with Folks’s Embrace, an organisation based in Might 2021 by defectors. With their assist, Ko Thet slipped away from his base in jap Bago Area that September, and ultimately reached Kayin State.
Within the first few months after the February 2021 coup, unprecedented and effectively publicised desertions from the safety forces gave many hope that police and troopers would stand with the individuals, dooming the brand new regime. However defections occurred at a person degree, somewhat than a unit degree, which many battle analysts say is important to precipitate an institutional collapse.
The variety of defections from the navy fell sharply final yr. Out of the roughly 10,000 defections counted by Folks’s Embrace as much as October final yr, about 8,000 occurred in 2021. For the police drive, round 1,000 defected in 2022 in comparison with 2,000 the yr earlier than.
Nonetheless, those that have defected, or been captured in fight, nonetheless show helpful to the resistance. They supply intelligence on the navy, practice new recruits, assist make and supply weapons and infrequently combat on the frontlines.
However additionally they pose their very own challenges. Many resistance teams stay cautious of defectors, making it tough to search out efficient methods to make use of their data and expertise. And whereas each defectors and prisoners of battle can present essential info, they typically turn into a burden to their captors.
On the frontlines
Placing defecting troopers on the frontlines is a high-risk, high-reward technique. Their expertise might make them essentially the most well-trained efficient members of a resistance group, however mistrust nonetheless runs deep.
Bo Nagar, chief of the Myanmar Royal Dragon Military in Sagaing Area, informed Frontier that they’ve accepted about 10 ex-soldiers however principally use them to coach different fighters. He stated they “don’t use them on the frontlines in order that they don’t face any undesirable penalties”.
The Karenni Nationalities Defence Pressure, additionally fashioned after the coup, usually doesn’t deploy defectors to the frontlines both, in keeping with its chair Khun Bedu.
“We preserve them in a separate space. Solely in uncommon instances can we ask them to go to the frontlines with us, however generally, they’re checking landmines. Most of them stay within the background,” Khun Bedu informed Frontier.
Among the many estimated 10,000 deserters, the NUG’s Ministry of Defence estimates that 500 defectors have joined the armed resistance throughout the nation.
Lin Htet Aung, a former military captain and a spokesperson for Folks’s Embrace, informed Frontier that defectors bear a “thorough background verify” to confirm their id and make sure that they don’t seem to be a menace to the resistance.
He stated Folks’s Embrace has helped about 2,500 troopers go away the navy, most of whom abandoned inside the first yr of the coup. The remaining deserted their bases on their very own or, extra generally, defected on to an ethnic armed group or a Folks’s Defence Pressure, the decentralised armed wing of the NUG.
“In the course of the checks, the defectors have to provide particulars about once they joined the navy and the way they left, what they know in regards to the navy, their serial numbers, and so they have to indicate us movies and footage from inside their navy compound,” defined Lin Htet Aung. “If a soldier is cagey about sharing any of this info, that raises crimson flags and we block him. However only a few occasions have there been issues that defectors are spies.”
In a high-profile, however seemingly uncommon incident, one of many highest-ranking defectors, a lieutenant-colonel, turned himself again in to the navy after deserting his publish in February final yr.
The Chin Nationwide Entrance, an ethnic armed group based mostly in Chin State that’s intently allied to the NUG, stated it does enable troopers to combat and has by no means had an issue with spies. Vice chair Dr Sui Khar stated the group has accepted round 45 troopers, none of whom turned out to be double brokers, however three now not needed to stick with the CNF and “discreetly left their camps”.
“In the event that they wish to combat, then we put them in our primary navy coaching. However it’s principally lower-level troopers who wish to combat – the higher-ranking officers usually don’t,” Sui Khar informed Frontier.
The Arakan Military, which relies in Rakhine State and claims to have acquired greater than 100 defectors, has had a special expertise.
A high-level official who spoke on the situation of anonymity stated defectors “are kind of helpful relying on rank, expertise, experience, willingness to cooperate”, however stated it’s normally “educated officers selecting to affix the resistance facet” whereas “low rating deserters with much less schooling want to get away”.
Utilizing them in battle is dependent upon their will and “degree of trustworthiness”, he stated.
Colonel Noticed Yan Naing, commander of Battalion 27 beneath Brigade 6 of the Karen Nationwide Liberation Military, one of many KNU’s armed wings, defined to Frontier that there’s nonetheless a scarcity of organisation in coping with former troopers. The KNU has acquired greater than 300 defectors for the reason that coup.
“The KNLA doesn’t have a coverage on the best way to obtain defectors as a result of it was so unusual earlier than the coup. As a substitute, we comply with the coverage that the NUG developed, however there are some issues with how defectors are being managed – there are too many mouths to feed and there isn’t sufficient cash,” the colonel stated. “It can be difficult as a result of a few of these troopers are badly behaved and once they defect they don’t comply with the directions of the NUG, they only do what they need.”
Nonetheless the KNU permits defectors to affix its frontlines “if they’re excited and wanting to combat”, in keeping with the group’s international secretary and spokesperson Padoh Noticed Taw Nee.
A supply of intel
Some defectors have been particularly useful to the resistance as sources of intelligence and in fight coaching.
Greater-ranking defectors like Ko Thet have offered essential perception into navy operations and weapon manufacturing and procurement. Ko Thet, who specialised in sustaining plane, stated his coaching permits him to assist “put together the resistance and civilians for air strikes by explaining how completely different plane function and the way far they will attain.”
Yan Naing famous that the ex-soldiers could be notably helpful in providing perception into the morale of their former comrades.
“Defections from the navy are an excellent factor as a result of it reduces the navy’s power and the defectors can inform us in regards to the navy’s deliberate operations. They’ll additionally inform us in regards to the scenario on the bottom – how troopers are feeling,” stated Yan Naing. “We are able to use what we find out about their feelings to launch psychological warfare and likewise to have a greater understanding of the place the navy is perhaps weak.”
Nonetheless, most defectors are from the decrease ranks with restricted entry to intelligence. Based on Lin Htet Aung, fewer than 100 of the ten,000 defectors have been a captain or increased.
For the KNDF, Khun Bedu stated that among the many 20 defectors they’ve acquired, the very best rating was a sergeant. In his expertise, these lower-level troopers can’t present a lot info past “the place their battalions are stationed and what number of troopers are based mostly there”. However they’re nonetheless helpful in contacting extra individuals on the within.
La Yaung*, a former lieutenant within the navy who defected in March 2021 and now works in arms manufacturing for the resistance, agrees that securing entry to these nonetheless serving within the Tatmadaw is a vital asset amongst defectors.
“I’m nonetheless involved with about 10 troopers contained in the navy, the highest-ranking amongst them is a captain,” he stated. “Most of them don’t just like the navy however they’re too afraid to go away. As a substitute, they will feed me details about weapon manufacturing and navy actions, similar to the place they’re planning upcoming assaults, and I can share this info with the NUG.”
Lin Htet Aung of Folks’s Embrace says he’s involved with as many as 100 troopers contained in the navy each month, although the quantity fluctuates and it’s not all the time the identical individuals reaching out.
“Many individuals are afraid to go away the navy due to the menace to their households. However it may be a win-win scenario to have these individuals on the within who can feed us info – their households can keep secure and so they may give us insider info,” he stated.
As soon as Lin Htet Aung receives the following tips, he corroborates them with different related navy and resistance sources earlier than passing it onto the NUG and the PDF head workplace. If the knowledge is particular to a geographic space, he additionally reaches out to resistance teams working there.
For the KNU, intelligence acquired from defectors was instrumental in seizing two outposts in Kawkareik and Kyainseikgyi townships within the group’s Brigade 6 space in mid-2022, stated Taw Nee. He defined that defectors had been in a position to present the ethnic armed group with precious details about how the outposts had been constructed and the variety of troops stationed in every, which allowed the KNU fighters to efficiently occupy each.
However Taw Nee additionally notes that the KNU is “nonetheless very weak in verifying intelligence”. Whereas Lin Htet Aung stated that roughly “90 %” of the knowledge they obtain from inside sources in regards to the navy is appropriate, teams just like the KNU stay on excessive alert.
“One factor to watch out about is that the navy can disguise itself and provides false info from the within, or the navy could make use of counterintelligence beneath the identify of CDM,” defined Taw Nee, the KNU spokesperson. “Since our revolution has been happening for many years, we now have to deal with conditions like this very rigorously.”
A boon or a burden?
Prisoners of battle, typically captured throughout preventing, can be a helpful supply of knowledge, however pose their very own challenges.
Some teams just like the KNU, which has captured various senior officers, together with one lieutenant colonel, have efficiently extracted helpful info from POWs. However holding prisoners for lengthy durations is tough, even for the KNU, which has a extra established and systematic jail system in comparison with lots of the different armed teams.
“Many of the info that we get out of the prisoners is from their telephones, particularly for the high-ranking officers. Usually troopers may have paperwork on their telephones that inform us issues like when they’re anticipating weapon and artillery shipments, and the place they’re being saved. Probably the most essential issues we discover on the troopers’ telephones are battle critiques and assessments, which provides perception into how the navy plans operations and might help us in predicting future assaults,” stated Yan Naing.
He stated all POWs are first taken to an advert hoc jail for seven to 10 days the place they’re handcuffed, interrogated and bear a medical examination. Afterwards, they’re transferred to the KNU district police.
“For low-ranking officers, it normally solely takes one or two days earlier than they begin speaking, however for the high-ranking officers it could possibly take a number of weeks and even months earlier than they inform us something,” he stated.
“Typically we will be taught loads from these conversations. For instance, about three or 4 months in the past, one of many detained troopers informed us that a complete navy battalion in his camp didn’t wish to combat anymore and had stopped listening to their commander,” Yan Naing stated. “This type of info tells us that there are many troopers who’re very sad within the navy.”
Whereas the battalion modified its commander and presumably was in a position to management the troopers once more, Yan Naing stated listening to about this type of discontent helps encourage the KNU fighters.
However the KNU lacks area to accommodate all of the troopers it has captured and has needed to launch some for purely logistical causes.
For instance, Taw Nee stated in March 2021, KNLA Brigade 5 captured eight prisoners, together with a captain. However the subsequent month, the KNLA fighters had been pressured to maneuver to evade Tatmadaw airstrikes, and it grew to become too tough to carry the prisoners.
“In fact we’re nervous that they are going to return to the navy, however we don’t have an alternative choice,” he stated.
The CNF can also be stretched skinny with nearly “10 to fifteen” troopers in its custody, in keeping with Sui Khar who says their “prisons” are very small.
“We enable them to train for his or her well being and we guarantee sanitation and meals and water, and if they should go to the hospital, they will go to a clinic run by the CNF,” he stated. Whereas the CNF has acquired a couple of high-ranking defectors from the navy, all of its prisoners have been from decrease ranks and plenty of “don’t even know the identify of their very own commander,” he stated.
The KNDF additionally has solely round 15 low-ranking troopers in its custody, in keeping with vice chair Khun Bedu. The group beforehand tried to leverage its POWs in a prisoner trade with the navy, nevertheless it fell by means of because the junta officers in Kayah State, the place the KNDF relies, didn’t have the authority to make such a deal, Khun Bedu stated.
La Yaung, the previous navy lieutenant, insists that it stays essential to maintain encouraging defections to be able to weaken the navy’s manpower, and that is in the end extra essential than the intelligence gathered.
“It is necessary for individuals contained in the navy to feed info to the resistance however although that is useful, it will be higher if everybody who needed to assist the resistance simply left the navy,” he stated. “We are able to see the navy is dropping manpower, and if these defections proceed then the navy will turn into even weaker.”
*Denotes use of a pseudonym for safety causes.
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