Four including a Sergeant Major defect in Phaungpyin, 117 soldiers including officers surrender to AA in Rakhine

Yangon, July 8 Four soldiers, including a Sergeant Major, have defected in Phaungpyin Township, Sagaing Region, and 117 soldiers, including officers, have surrendered to the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State, according to statements from Battalion 3 of the Mrauk U District and the People's Goal Group. It is known that on July 5 and June 4, a Sergeant Major and three soldiers from the military, who were stationed at the front lines between Battalion 3 of the Mrauk U District, based in Phaungpyin Township, and the army, fled from the military council forces and defected to Battalion 3 of the Mrauk U District. Battalion 3 of the Mrauk U District warmly welcomed the defecting military council soldiers and informed them that they would be assisted in returning home if they wished to return, and in finding employment if they wished to work. "In the army, they don't even allow you to go home if your parents die. There is unjust oppression. Also, they threaten that if you cooperate with the PDFs in the army, they will slit your throat and kill you, poison your food and kill you, and then shoot you dead. I want to tell those who are inside that if you want to escape, you can escape like me," said a deputy sergeant who defected from the military council army to the PDF forces. Furthermore, the People's Goal Group announced that in the fourth week of June 2026, a total of 125 members of the military council forces, including soldiers, police, and Pyu Saw Htee, who defected, surrendered, or were captured as prisoners of war, and that 120 of them were captured as prisoners of war, with 117 soldiers, including officers, being sent to Rakhine State and surrendering to the Arakan Army as an entire column. It is reported that from January 2025 to the end of June 2026, a total of 3678 soldiers defected, joined, surrendered, or were captured as prisoners of war.