Myanmar: Tears for young rebel fighters lost on the front line

They almost look out of place in this wilderness. They are dressed in fashionable gear as they sit checking their phones, again thanks to Starlink, while cicadas buzz in the forest around them. One says he disguised himself as a villager, hiding his city clothes to avoid detection at a checkpoint.

The journey was hard, says Thura, “I had to spend that night sleeping with fear. It was a place I had never been or known. After that, they picked me up in the morning and brought me here safely.”

Names have been changed to protect the identity of those who spoke to us. Many of them still fear for their families back in the cities.

There is a burning sense of betrayal among them. They grew up during Myanmar’s transition to democracy, which began in 2015 after more than half a century of military rule. But the promise of freedom was snatched away with the military coup in 2021, which toppled the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Most of the group have completed the month-long basic military training offered by the armed opposition group, the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), which operates here.

The KNDF was established after the coup, and its leadership of a disparate grouping of Karenni resistance and ethnic groups, has pushed the troops of the military junta out of 90% of the state, it claims.

I ask one fighter, Thiha, why he has chosen to take up arms. He replies that he only has two choices – to fight for the military or to join the revolutionary forces.

“[If] I fight for [the army], I will be tormenting my own people and will be killing them,” he says.

There are those, however, who have chosen not to fight but to dedicate themselves to the revolution in other ways.

On a scorching hot day, we travel along a hillside track under the cover of the thick jungle canopy to reach a secret hospital which is treating civilians and fighters alike. It looks like no medical facility I have seen. On the outside there is a random collection of huts and shelters, but inside are scanners, X-ray machines and 60 hospital beds.

Subterfuge is essential, the previous hospital was bombed by the military.