Video purports to show defector who joined AA

15 October 2019
Video purports to show defector who joined AA
Corporal Aung Naing, an ethnic Rakhine soldier who defected from the Myanmar military to the rebel Arakan Army, appears in a video released on Oct. 10, 2019. Photo: Video screenshot/Arakan Army from YouTube

The Arakan Army (AA) has released a video of an ethnic Rakhine soldier who they allege joined it after he defected from the Myanmar military, RFA reported.

The man who identifies himself as Corporal Aung Naing said he served in the Myanmar military for 27 years but was turned down for a promotion to captain before he deserted and joined the AA.

The captain of his unit verbally abused him with ethnic slurs, slapped him in the face, and beat him when he talked back, the former Myanmar corporal said. He was also denied a promotion in the KhaLaYa-202 Infantry Battalion

In response, Aung Naing said he shot the captain, though the officer’s fate is unknown.

The Myanmar military could not confirm that Aung Naing had been one of its soldiers, nor did it have information about the officer he said he shot.