The Burma Army (BA) asked village leaders of 9 villages in Paletwa Township to contribute up to 30 villagers to form People’s Militia Forces (PMFs) to support the junta’s forces in southern Chin State.
During a recent meeting, the BA Infantry Battalion 289 commander in Paletwa town instructed village leaders to submit a list of recruits aged between 18 and 50 by 3 December, according to a villager that requested their name not be mentioned.
The BA commander told us to form a PMF ”for the security of our village” and asked for 30 recruits: 10 permanent and 20 for reserve forces, the Khonumthung News source said. The army will provide military training to the recruits and provide guns if necessary. Also, some will be permanent while others will serve as reservists.
There are indications that the regime intends to form PMFs in all villages in the township, but at the moment these are Ouk Mee Letwa, Lawng Gadoe, Seim Sin, Nga Pwi, Ann Hko, Sipha Lawng, Tamang Thar, Kinwa and Kyaw villages.
A long-running conflict with the Arakan Army subsided in late 2020 after the military negotiated an informal ceasefire with the ethnic armed group, ending years of fighting.
The regime has assisted some civilians living in camps in the towns of Paletwa and Sami to return to their villages and is now asking them to form PMFs.