Three junta battalions stationed in Hlaingbwe Town, Hlaingbwe Township, Hpa-An District, Karen State, have been reinforced with 140 newly trained conscripts each, according to locals.
The junta’s Infantry Battalions (IBs) 28, 338 and 339 in Hlaingbwe Town have each received two batches of reinforcements consisting of 70 conscripts each, who are being deployed after having completed a three-month military training programme.
This means that a total of 420 conscripts have been deployed across the three Hlaingbwe-based battalions, according to a Hlaingbwe resident who is close to the military community.
He said: "Each battalion has already received reinforcements twice, with 70 conscripts each time, all of whom recently completed military training. The junta authorities claimed that these conscripts would primarily be responsible for battalions’ security, rather than combat roles. However, conscripts are required to serve for two years. In my opinion, if they didn't do this, there wouldn't be any troops left in the junta battalions in the town.”
In the first week of September 2024, after the conscript reinforcements had arrived, the junta organised a parade to welcome them that involved 200 junta soldiers marching in Hlaingbe Township and being presented with food by the family members of junta-appointed community administrators. Unfortunately this confused locals who had not been informed about the parade and panicked at the sight of so many junta soldiers marching through the township.
The junta has also started training hundred-household administrators and teachers in Hlaingbwe Town to carry out census enumeration in the nationwide population census that is due to be conducted from 1 to 15 October and is seen by the junta as a crucial step for its planned elections in 2025.
A Hlaingbwe Town resident said: "Four people from each ward in Hlaingbwe Town have been called up to the IB-339 [base] for training, which began on 23 September. Junta-appointed hundred-house administrators and schoolteachers are participating in the training. Currently, there have been no village-level call-ups; only individuals from downtown wards have been selectively provided training.”
Hlaingbwe Township in Hpa-An District is in the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade Seven area, though both junta and Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) forces under Colonel Saw Chit Thu are also present in the area.
KNU Brigade Seven and the Karen BGF have yet to respond to the junta’s census preparations in Hlaingbwe Township.
The junta has ramped up training of people to carry out the census in all states and regions. It has also been recruiting and training school teachers who are fluent in ethnic languages and training them to be census enumerators.
