Soldier-spies in Myanmar help pro-democracy rebels make crucial gains

The once formidable Myanmar military is cracking from within – riddled with spies secretly working for the pro-democracy rebels, the BBC has found.
The military only has full control of less than a quarter of Myanmar’s territory, a BBC World Service investigation reveals.
The junta still controls the major cities and remains “extremely dangerous” according to the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar. But it has lost significant territory over the past 12 months – see map below.
The soldier spies are known as “Watermelons” – green on the outside, rebel red within. Outwardly loyal to the military but secretly working for the pro-democracy rebels whose symbolic colour is red.
A major based in central Myanmar says it was the military’s brutality that prompted him to switch sides.
“I saw the bodies of tortured civilians. I shed tears,” says Kyaw [not his real name]. “How can they be so cruel against our own people? We are meant to protect civilians, but now we’re killing people. It’s no longer an army, it’s a force that terrorises.”
More than 20,000 people have been detained and thousands killed, the UN says, since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021 – triggering an uprising.
Kyaw initially thought about defecting from the army, but decided with his wife that becoming a spy was “the best way to serve the revolution”.
When he judges it safe to do so, he leaks internal military information to the People’s Defense Forces [PDF] – a network of civilian militia groups. The rebels use the intelligence to mount ambushes on the military or to avoid attacks. Kyaw also sends them some of his wage, so they can buy weapons.
Spies like him are helping the resistance achieve what was once unthinkable.
The BBC assessed the power balance in more than 14,000 village groups as of mid-November this year, and found the military only has full control of 21% of Myanmar’s territory, nearly four years on from the start of the conflict.
The investigation reveals that ethnic armies and a patchwork of resistance groups now control 42% of the country’s land mass. Much of the remaining area is contested.