Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

The Myanmar military regime is believed to have recruited nearly 70,000 new members since activating its conscription law 17 months ago, and is now deploying them in counteroffensives to retake territory lost to resistance forces and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) across the country.

Army defectors and resistance fighters say most of these new recruits are being sent directly to front lines to fight in these operations.

The junta enforced the People’s Military Service Law in February 2024 as it struggled to quell growing military offensives by anti-regime ethnic armed groups and their allied resistance forces across the country.