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Reuters
Capt. Aung Sin Phyo had been a loyal soldier in the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, stationed in Tarlay, a town in eastern Shan state near the borders with Laos and Thailand. When the military ousted the country’s democratically elected government on Feb. 1, Aung Sin Phyo saw it as a power grab by the Tatmadaw’s leaders. After seeing news reports of violent suppression of anti-coup protests, he decided he would defect. He made contact with the
Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a shadow parliament group made up of ousted lawmakers, and together with his wife escaped to a confidential location in an area under the control of a rebel army. Washington, D.C.-based RFA Myanmar Service reporter Khin Maung Soe conducted a telephone interview with Aung Sin Phyo, who said he would continue to serve the country he was sworn to protect.
Hein Thaw Oo,
Htay Htay Tun
, who lives and works in the Middle Eastern emirate of Dubai, is the sister of Myanmar Army Major Hein Thaw Oo, who defected last month from the
99th Light Infantry Division in Meiktila, Mandalay region, to join anti-junta protesters in northeast Shan state. The highest-ranked known military defector to break with the army since the military coup on Feb. 1 that overthrew the democratic government of country leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
Hein Thaw Oo gave an interview from in hiding with RFA’s Myanmar Service. He described major corruption in senior army ranks and expressed willingness to join hands with an anti-junta military force that was taking shape and has since been unveiled. Shortly after that interview was broadcasted on April 20, his sister received threatening phone calls from the military pressuring her to return from the United Arab Emirates and help find her brother or face sedition charges. She spoke by telephone to RFA’s Wa
AFP/CRPH video screenshot
Myanmar’s shadow government of ousted former lawmakers created a People’s Defense Force (PDF) on Wednesday to prevent killings and other violent acts against the people by the military junta that seized power from the elected government on Feb. 1. The National Unity Government (NUG), as the parallel body is known, said the PDF is a precursor to a Federal Union Army that would comprise a majority ethnic Bamar militia and the country’s ethnic armed groups to fight the powerful national military.
Min Ko Naing, a Myanmar pro-democracy activist and former 88 Generation Students Group leader, is a member of shadow government’s advisory council on the PDF. He has been a vocal critic of the military regime, calling it “bloodthirsty” for its killing of hundreds of peaceful protesters and other civilians. In an exclusive interview with reporter Khin Maung Soe of RFA’s Myanmar Service, Min Ko Naing discusses the new militia, the status of
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