In the Irrawaddy Region, the regime has given special military training to former soldiers, police officers, village leaders and the Pyu Saw Htee, a group formed after the coup to harass people resisting the dictatorship.

A man close to an administrator in Kangyidaunt told NMG that Capt Kyaw Zwa of the Burma Army (BA), who came from Yangon, has been providing the training since the third week of November, with the aim of launching a military offensive in the area once it is completed.

About 30 people who have enrolled are staying at Shwe Le Taw restaurant on the Yangon-Pathein road in Kangyidaunt. The former soldiers are from Ngaputaw.

A former soldier from Ngaputaw told NMG that the training is a two-week refresher course for the ex military personnel, but village administrators also attend. "In October, the army recalled former soldiers and trained them to form a 'people's militia' and also gave them weapons," he said.

According to political analysts, following the refusal of young people to join the army, the junta was compelled to recall retired soldiers to replenish the dwindling numbers.

Residents of Ngaputaw suspect the military is planning to launch an offensive against the People's Defence Forces there and in Kangyidaunt.

Since September, the civilian resistance group assassinated informants and carried out attacks on police camps, and military convoys transporting the Minister of Tourism and the Chief Minister of the Irrawaddy Region, and Mytel communication towers, which the regime owns.