Some young people in Mon State are being persuaded by police officials and informants to join the junta army and police force, local youths informed Than Lwin Times.

The military personnel convinced the young people that if they join the army at this time, they would be promoted quickly and get a good salary.

The military council is mainly targeting out-of-school youth, daily-wage earners, and unemployed youth in the wards and villages.

Locals say that the strength of the military council has weakened due to the daily fighting, so they are looking for new recruits to strengthen the army.

The military council is organizing young people to join their army, but during the last two years of the coup, students who protested against the coup were beaten, arrested, shot and killed, and sentenced to long prison terms.

The military council secretly directed its subordinates to have informants in the region in order to gather information on the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and those who support the PDFs.

The military council is also training non-CDM staff from different departments at the Central Institute of Civil Services (Phaung Gyi), emphasizing military and weaponry training, pushing them to serve the military if necessary.