The Bamar People's Liberation Army is a prominent force in Myanmar's resistance movement that aims to overthrow the military regime that seized power in the Southeast Asian nation in 2021. Its basic training is renowned for its harshness and strict discipline. - REUTERS
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00:00This is rebel-held territory in eastern Myanmar.
00:08More than 100 young people, mostly in their 20s, are going through rigorous military drills.
00:16The new recruits to the Bama People's Liberation Army, or BPLA, are former chefs, ex-journalists,
00:24rappers and poets.
00:28But they all share a common goal, overthrowing the military regime that seized power in the
00:33Southeast Asian nation in 2021.
00:38The BPLA's basic training is renowned for its harshness.
00:42For recruits, days start at 4am and end at 9pm.
00:47They get one day off, Sunday.
00:49It lasts for three months, pushing recruits to their limits.
00:53They train all day under the scorching sun without any water.
00:57Discipline is enforced with harsh blows for any mistake.
01:04After morning drills and following dinner, political lessons take place.
01:09Every evening they hear from the BPLA's leader, Maung San Ka.
01:13He was once an anti-war poet.
01:15Now he delivers political education to the recruits, delving into the group's founding
01:20principles, structure, and even gender equality.
01:24The BPLA represents the country's Bama ethnic majority and is a prominent force in Myanmar's
01:30resistance movement.
01:32Myanmar won independence from Britain in 1948, but has long been dominated by its military.
01:38In 2021, a brief period of civilian rule ended with a coup that toppled the government of
01:44Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
01:46The BPLA formed shortly after that.
01:49And since October of last year, it's been a key player in Operation 1027, a joint offensive
01:55with other rebel militias that has significantly weakened the military.
02:00More than 20 BPLA soldiers have died in battles since 2021.
02:04I think there was this initial compulsion, you know, let's go, let's fight.
02:08David Scott Matheson is an independent analyst on Myanmar who spoke to Reuters from Thailand.
02:13I do think that there's a widespread recognition that we have to keep going because we've
02:19got to topple the military once and for all to establish a future stability and a future
02:25freedom different from the one that we had before, because the one we had before was
02:29always conditional because the military was always there.
02:34At the training ground, this 19-year-old soldier says things are tougher and more tiring than
02:42expected.
02:43She says she sometimes feels depressed, but the recruits are encouraging each other, adding
02:49I don't regret the hardship.