Min Aung Hlaing calls on young officers to keep pace with modern warfare

13 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
13 December 2024, Mrauk-U

Faced with defeats on multiple fronts across Myanmar, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has instructed new officers to “effectively utilise the military skills they have acquired and strive to become competent engineering officers” as he addressed the graduation ceremony of the 26th intake of the Defence Services Technological Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin on Thursday.

The junta boss also urged them to be obedient and disciplined, saying “Only obedient and disciplined followers can develop into competent leaders.”

The regime has lost large swaths of territory to resistance groups since Operation 1027 was launched in October 2023. Anti-regime groups have captured 86 towns across the country, mostly in ethnic areas including northern Shan and Arakan states.

The junta has also lost much of northern Shan and Arakan states and is on the verge of losing its Western Command headquarters in Arakan State.

One military observer said: “At this point, the regime is locked in a defensive position. They can’t win battles, and the morale of ground troops is plummeting. Many junta soldiers sent to the battleground were either captured or surrendered or died. Regardless of the junta chief’s rhetoric, the military will continue to suffer defeats.”

The regime is also using drones to launch counter-offensives on resistance forces as resistance attacks including the use of drones have taken a heavy toll on its troops.

The junta boss also called on the new officers to expand their horizons with respect to information technology to cope with the challenges of the modern battlefield.