Wa Lone and Devjyot Ghoshal

(Reuters) – An army officer from Myanmar defected to flee the country and described battlefield losses in rebels’ southern Chin state. He said that at least 50 soldiers were killed in combat and another 200 suffered serious injuries. The rebellion fighters used homemade weapons in their 2021 attacks.

Kaung Thu Win is a former captain that defected to the army in December. He offered an unusual first-hand account on the intensified fighting at Chin, Myanmar’s northwest. This area has seen some of the most brutal armed resistance the military junta faced since its retaken power last year.

Following hearing about reports of abuses by military personnel during last year’s clashes, he stated that he changed sides.

In northeastern India, where he has fled with his family, the 32 year-old presented Reuters his military and national identity cards. He also detailed 12 instances between May and December when soldiers were either killed or injured by rebels.

Additionally, he showed Reuters about 30 classified documents from the Army that backed up his story of recent events at southern Chin State. These were areas where civilians who opposed the coup have taken arms and worked with an established ethnic rebel group.

This information was the basis for his estimation of military casualties.

His mobile phone had the documents stored. They contain new information about a significant clash in Mindat. These details were not known before. Further evidence is provided by the documents that show a rising popular rebellion against Myanmar’s military rulers, which has been reported across the country.

Other Myanmar defectors also reviewed the documents and found that some were very similar to other ones they’d seen, in terms of format, language and combat descriptions.

The Tatmadaw military in Myanmar has admitted battlefield losses but hasn’t provided any details.

Tatmadaw declined to comment on the events in Chin or Kaung Thu Win’s accounts. The military previously called armed groups opposing the junta “terrorists”

Indian Home Ministry did not respond to our request for comments on Myanmar defectors looking for refuge at the Chin border.

According to Kaung Thu win, Chin state saw a rise in fighters in the following weeks. But the Tatmadaw experienced the full power of the rebellion when a convoy with seven vehicles was attacked near Mindat in May.

According to one document, the Mindat attack was one of most significant clashes so far. Hundreds of rebel fighters attacked convoys at dawn and fired on troops from hillsides positions. Five soldiers were killed, while 37 others remain unaccounted.

According to an internal field report, “We were attacked and repelled by around 1,000 insurgents.” Six army trucks were destroyed and many weapons lost.

CASUALTIES MOUNT

The documents include details on the Mindat attack as well as maps showing military facilities in Southern Chin State, information about army supplies, and battlefield reports from skirmishes against rebels.

    The fighting in the southern areas of Chin, involving hastily formed Chinland Defence Force (CDF) guerrilla groups, has been fierce.

Kaung Thu Win claimed that at most 20 Myanmar soldiers died in the ambush on May 14.

In an interview with Reuters, he said that Tatmadaw only started to take the CDF more seriously after the May 14th incident. It was “a meeting of… hunting guns (used in the CDF), and modern weapons.”

When asked if this was a turning point, the military didn’t respond.

Captain said that his role as liaison officer was to ensure that military documentation, such as convoy lists and supplies, were available to him from the staff of his regional headquarters.

Because he was involved in the military investigation, he claimed that he had also access to the Mindat ambush accounts.

While the former officer did not know what happened to the investigation, the official said that Major Yan Naung Htoo who was involved with the battle was under house arrest in Monywa at the beginning of September.

Reuters was unable to contact the officer. When asked questions about the situation, or to conduct a wider probe into it, neither did the military respond.

Kaung Thu Win, a CDF member in Kalay stated that he had given them weapons and ammunition. They claimed that they led the Captain and his wife into a safe place and then paid for the arms. The wife of the captain had just given birth their first child.

The Kalay defense force’s CDF KKG spokesmen said that they had paid the captain about 6 million kyat ($3,300). The total amount paid was lower than the 9 million estimated for weapons and ammunition. However, it could not be afforded fully, the spokesperson said.

He claimed that the defectors weren’t under obligation to join the defence group. But, they asked them about Tatmadaw operations and before moving them on to safety.

While the Captain confirmed that he received compensation from the CDF KKG, the captain declined to disclose how much.

‘ARMED INSURRECTION’

According to Kaung Thu Win, the Myanmar army suffered steady losses throughout 2021 as guerrilla groups across the country gained strength.

He describes the clash of May and the extent of opposition to Myanmar’s military. The conflict is now being called a civil battle by some analysts.

According to the military, this rebellion is called an “armed insurrection”, while Min Aung Hlaing, the military ruler, stated that there had been more than 9000 “terrorist acts” last year. Jan. The junta claimed it had “largely restored stability to national affairs” by the end of 2021.

Kaung Thu Win stated that soldiers whose remains aren’t immediately located following battle often are classified as unaccounted. This explains the five-fold difference in deaths listed in Mindat’s report and his 20-year-old estimate.

    A CDF statement on Jan. 26 put the death toll among troops at 1,029 across the whole of Chin between April and December 2021. According to the statement, CDF troops suffered 58 casualties during that time, along with 27 civilian deaths.

Opposition parties claim more than 1,000 soldiers are said to have sided with one another in the recent months.

When asked by Tatmadaw about figures provided by the captain or resistance groups, he declined to answer.

“I LOVED MY JOB”

Kaung Thu Win, the youngest of three children to Myanmar’s Yangon civil servants, said that he was admitted into the highly coveted Defence Services Academy in 2006. Reuters was unable to reach the academy in order for comments.

After graduating from the military college, he joined Light Infantry Battalion 216. He was later deployed to Myanmar’s Karen, Shan, and other areas to defeat ethnic armed group fighting for greater autonomy.

He claimed that he witnessed civilian property being destroyed during operations in Shan but considered such events to be inevitable consequences of an armed conflict.

He said, “I was proud to my work and still love my job.”

Kaung Thu Win claimed that he was assigned to Matupi, Chin state in 2016. According to him, he had been posted at the Monywa region command center as its liaison officer during the military coup in February 2016.

He added that Tatmadaw helicopters flew in wounded troops to Monywa’s base from the front.

Kaung Thu Win stated that the military started sending reinforcements to southern Chin in October. This increased the number of troops present, which is more than 800. The troop numbers of CDF fighters also increased.

At the same moment, the captain began to hear that Tatmadaw troops were setting fires in villages along their routes. This sent civilian populations running into the forested area for safety.

He said that he had received information from colleagues and decided to defect. “I’ve witnessed so many stories about how the Tatmadaw targeted the homes and property of people after the coup.”

The Myanmar military’s resolute response to the uprisings within Chin state was criticized by the United Nations and other human rights organizations late last year.

It was criticized by rights groups as mirroring the Tatmadaw’s 2017 brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims from neighbouring Rakhine, which caused the exodus to some 730,000 people.

According to the military, it is waging an official campaign against Rakhine insurgents that attacked police stations.

Kaung Thu Win said that his wife, Kaung Thu Win, was still pregnant with their first baby and they decided to delay leaving the country.

Kaung Thu Win and his infant son left Monywa one day after cutting off communications with their colleagues. They boarded a bus to travel to Chin, where they met rebels who led them to safety.

The ex-officer, who was holding his baby in his arms, said that he is satisfied “because I am not one of these soldiers people hate.” “I’m now proud to be a normal citizen.