Soldiers newly conscripted into the junta army and deployed to the Ahnankwin military base in Waw Ray (Win Ray) Township, Karen State deserted in August and September 2024, according to Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) sources.
During the last week of August, 200 soldiers, many of whom were newly conscripted, were sent by the junta to reinforce the Ahnankwin base, which is in Dooplaya District, an area mainly under the control of Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA) Brigade 6.
15 of the new conscripts surrendered to the KNLA, according to KNLA sources
10 of the conscripts fled the military column as it was making its way to the Ahnankwin base. A further five conscripts fled from the base itself, two at the end of August and a further three during September, according to a KNLA source.
One young conscript said: "I didn't join the military service voluntarily; I was drafted because of the conscription law. We weren't even informed in advance which base we would be deployed to. Now that I've escaped, I'm very happy, and I urge my friends still at that base to flee as soon as they get the chance.”
He said: “All of them are being kept in a safe place by the KNU. Ten escaped from the column, and within just a couple of months, five deserted from Ahnankwin base—two in one group and three in another.”
The new conscripts have mainly been patrolling around the villages of Yetagon, Zeehnitpin (Parawhe), and Sintaung in Thanbyuzayat Township.
The KNLA has been intermittently attacking the Ahnankwin military base, which functions as a key tactical operations command (TOC) for the junta. In an effort to hold the base, the junta has deployed significant reinforcements of ground troops and launched heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling in the surrounding areas. Around half of the houses in the nearby Ahnankwin Village have been burned down and thousands of its residents have had to flee.
Other villages in the area have also been facing arbitrary artillery fire from the junta's Artillery 315 base in Weakali Village in neighbouring Mon State’s Thanbyuzayat Township, even though there has been no fighting in the area. This has caused repeated temporary displacement of villagers.
