Myanmar’s army is facing battlefield challenges and grants amnesty to troops jailed for being AWOL

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Reports from Myanmar say its military government has been freeing soldiers and police who had been jailed for desertion and absence without leave as authorities seek to get them to return to active duty. A police officer and an army officer on Thursday confirmed independent media reports that the authorities are following through on an amnesty plan to get them back into service in order to ease an apparent manpower shortage. The amnesty offer was an apparent consequence of the military facing the greatest battlefield pressures since it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. An offensive by ethnic armed groups in late October sparked fighting nationwide.