By Takaloo, Maungdaw: The Burmese military is conducting arms and combat training for fire service volunteers in Maungdaw on the western Burmese border, said one of the trainees.
Arakanese youth from several villages in Maungdaw Township are being given basic combat training by authorities after registering for the volunteer fire service.
"We have given our names to the officials of our village governing body just for the volunteer fire training. After starting the training, we then understood that the training was not for fire services, but for basic warfare training for volunteering authorities in our township," the source told Narinjara on the condition of anonymity.
He added that he feared retribution from authorities if he quit the training after being registered.
According to him, the training opened on 14 September with some 75 youth from Maungdaw's urban wards and nearby villages, and will last for 20 days.
Officers from Burma army and the Maungdaw police station have been giving the training to youths from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm everyday, and each of the trainees is provided 500 kyats per day for tea and snacks.
The source added that so far he was unsure what the specific intent was behind the military training for civilian youths.
Major Aung Swe Nyuant, Chairman of Maungdaw District, stated in his speech at the opening ceremony that the youths were being offered the training so that they would be strong enough to cooperate with personnel from any government department in emergency situations in Maungdaw Township.
A town elder said, "They have tricked the youths with the name of "civil service". No one would be willing to attend the training if they knew it was military training, because most of the civilians - old and young alike - are disgusted by the very word military or anything military related."
"It is apparent that Burmese military authorities are preparing the youths for use as part of security forces for safeguarding their upcoming election planned for sometime in 2010," the elder added.
