The military council soldiers have conducted a militia training course for Pyu Saw Htee members for the first time in Pwintbyu Township of Magway Region since 22 January, according to local residents.
Although the military council said that nearly 100 Pyu Saw Htee members are undergoing training, but some of them came only to be photographed, local residents said.
ÒThey (army) have recorded videos. Training is in Kyaungkonegyi. Some of them came just to show their strength, but not so many in the village,” a local said.
The trainees who are mainly attending the training are members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and their relatives from six villages including Kyaungkonegyi, Sinlu and Yaypokekalay villages.
It is not yet known how long the training will last, but the locals who witnessed it said that it is still going on until today (23 January 23).
The military council which has opened the military fronts across the country are recruiting Pyu Saw Htee members which are so-called militias. The military council is forcibly putting pressures on village authorities to recruit at least 30 people per village-tract, locals said.
The military council has threatened that it will burn and destory some villages which fail to provide quotas by designating them as pro-PDF (People’s Defense Force) villages. The households which cannot attend the course shall provide female quotas.
The military council has threatened that the households which cannot provide quotas shall have to pay a fine of 300,000 to 500,000 MMK per house, locals continued.
There are more than 5,000 militia groups in Myanmar. After 2008, the military government attempted to form militia groups in more than 10,000 villages, according to the report by a Civil Society Organization (CSO).
Sent by Than Lwin Times.