Irrawaddy-Nov 8
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has ordered all military reserves to prepare for front-line battle amid a shortage of combat soldiers, according to military sources.
The call-up comes after the junta lost over 100 bases and numerous soldiers to the resistance’s ongoing Operation 1027 offensive, which has spread from northern Shan State to the middle of the country. The order for reservists to join the front-line fight came from the junta boss himself, said former army captain Lin Htet Aung, citing a military informant. “All auxiliary forces have been put on alert, with many already sent to infantry battalions for the frontline,” said Lin Htet Aung, who defected to the nationwide civil disobedience movement (CDM) following the 2021 military coup. Military doctors still studying for degrees or working at military hospitals have also been ordered to join combat troops in conflict zones. “The military is currently faced with multiple front lines across the country and suffering shortages of combat troops. The junta seems to be trying to fill the gaps with all the military personnel it can find,” said the ex-captain, a member of People’s Embrace, a group formed by former military personnel to help soldiers who refuse to fight for the regime. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify his report. Operation 1027 was launched last Friday by the ethnic Brotherhood Alliance of the Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). It has so far seized over 100 junta bases and several towns in northern Shan and Kachin states and upper Sagaing and Mandalay regions. The offensive has been joined by other anti-regime groups, including the powerful Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-calls-up-all-reservists-as-resistance-offensive-spreads.html
