AA releases photographs and interviews of 15 deserted junta soldiers

Narinjara News, 13 April 2026

The Arakan Army (AA) information service recently released a report featuring photographs and interviews of at least 15 soldiers, who deserted the Myanmar military camps to surrender to AA fighters.

The defectors cited forced recruitment and brutal practices by the junta as their primary reason for fleeing. They surrendered in the first week of April.

They were previously stationed at several junta outposts, including point (500) hill along with surrounding positions near the defense products factory number 16 under Pandaung township of Bago division in Burma proper.

Junta forces are working for a ‘fascist terrorist military commission’ as alleged by the AA.

Among those who surrendered include Phyo Myat Kyaw (serial number KPA/KSA 160404) of the 362nd battalion under the military operations command (10).

He left the camp on 1 April with six other soldiers. In a recorded statement, the 24-year-old from Yangon’s Dagon Seikkan township described how he was coerced into the service.

“I was dragged into the army against my will,” said Phyo Myat Kyaw. He alleged that on 28 April 2025, while returning home from a masonry job in south Okkalapa, Phyo Myat Kyaw was intercepted by a ward administrator.

“My bag and planted WY [methamphetamine] tablets were searched and later they chained me and photographed me with drugs samples to give an ultimatum to join the army or go behind the bar. When I chose imprisonment, they beat me until I could no longer bear the pain. Only then I agreed to join the forces” he added.

Despite his mother’s plea on the next day, the administrator forcibly sent him to a recruitment center.

Another defector, Kyaw Moe Win (22 years, serial number KPA-PAS/185219) of the 366th battalion, also shared a similar story of abduction.

A resident of Mandalay’s Chanmyathasi township, he was intercepted by four men while riding his motorbike on 1 October 2025.

“They handcuffed me and dragged me into a car, saying they had to interrogate me. They blindfolded me before taking to a house,” said Kyaw Moe Win.

“Next morning, they told me to join the army. I refused explaining them that I have a family with a minor. They beat me and sent me to the Magway recruitment center” he asserted.

The AA report highlights a growing trend of young, forcibly conscripted men fleeing the front lines. The information service noted that many of these reluctant recruits are killed in the battle against the AA fighters which compelled many to leave the junta camps across the region.