Two junta border guards desert in Rathedaung Twsp

By Admin 20 Mar 2023

DMG Newsroom
20 March 2023, Rathedaung

Two border guard troops from a border guard outpost deployed at the Ahtet Nan Yar Che Win Pagoda compound near Zedipyin Village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township reportedly deserted on Sunday evening.

“They deserted around 5 p.m. It is not clear if they were detained by the Arakan Army or if they defected to the AA. They have arrived at an AA base. They didn’t take weapons with them,” said a resident of Zedipyin Village who asked for anonymity. 

The AA has a base in the Mayu mountains some two miles from the border guard outpost. About 70 junta-affiliated troops have been stationed at the border guard outpost since 2021.

“Locals work on farms near the mountains. They saw two police [border guard personnel] as they returned to their homes from the farms on Sunday evening. The two were carrying rucksacks, but not weapons. We don’t know their names or ranks. But we are sure they have reached AA,” said another Zedipyin  villager.

DMG was unable to reach AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha or the junta’s Arakan State security and border affairs minister, Colonel Kyaw Thura, for comment.

Four members of a border guard police battalion in Maungdaw Township’s Myin Lut Village also deserted, along with their weapons, on March 6.