The junta in Myanmar has sentenced to death three brigadier generals who surrendered with hundreds of troops and handed over a strategic town on the Chinese border to rebel groups in Jan. A military source said that three top military officials, including the commander of Laukkai town, were given the death sentence, reported news agency AFP on Monday (Feb 19).
It is not yet known when this verdict was given. Earlier, a military spokesperson told the news agency that the brigadier generals were in military custody.
Meanwhile, three other brigadier generals were sentenced to life imprisonment for their role in the surrender.
A big loss for military in decades
In Jan, hundreds of troops surrendered in Laukkai in northern Shan state to the Three Brotherhood Alliance following months of fighting. The surrender was one of the biggest losses for the military in decades. It sparked rare criticism of the junta by its supporters.
After the surrender, the officers and their troops were allowed to leave the area. Leaving a post without permission is punishable by death penalty, according to Myanmar’s military law.
Laukkai is the largest town seized by alliance — made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Arakan Army (AA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).
In late Oct last year, the alliance launched a surprise offensive across a swathe of northern Myanmar. Since then, it has seized several towns and lucrative trade hubs along the border with China.
A dark past
Laukkai has a dark past. Current junta chief Min Aung Hlaing made headlines when in 2009, as a regional commander, he expelled the MNDAA from the town, according to the AFP report. The army then installed a militia that enriched itself producing drugs and selling gambling and sex to visitors from across the Chinese border.
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Later, the town became notorious for online scam where thousands of Chinese and foreign nationals defrauded their compatriots over the internet.
With the military now surrendering, a source close to the MNDAA told AFP that the group was working to install a new administration in the town.
(With inputs from agencies)
