The military regime has resumed collecting population data in Lashio, Northern Shan State, raising fears that the move signals an imminent new round of military conscription following the junta’s partial return to the city.

Since January 21, ward administrators in junta-controlled areas have been conducting door-to-door census checks, prompting widespread anxiety among residents who fear the lists will be used for forced recruitment.

“Before the fighting broke out, I heard rumors about military service. At that time, they took the names of my two sons and one daughter; it was at the very beginning of Operation 1027. They said that if you are unmarried, you have to serve—even girls. Then it went quiet for a while, but now the ward administrators are back on the streets themselves, and we are very worried,” a male resident of Lashio told SHAN.

During the early phase of Operation 1027 in 2024, junta-aligned administrators attempted to impose a lottery-based recruitment system, but the plan was suspended as fighting in Lashio intensified.

Following pressure from China, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Kokang Army, withdrew from Lashio’s urban center on April 22, 2025, although its forces remain stationed about four miles outside the city. The junta now administers 12 urban wards within Lashio.

While the junta resumes recruitment inside the city, the MNDAA is simultaneously demanding recruits in villages under its control, particularly in the Nam Pong area. Local sources say village heads have been ordered to provide 40 recruits, with five people demanded from each of the eight reorganized wards.

“In Nam Pong, the Kokang have reorganized eight wards and are demanding five people from each,” a local man told SHAN. “They claim it is only for local militia service to guard the villages. They say uniforms, weapons, and salaries will be provided, and that recruits can stay in their own villages. If we have to provide people again, this will be the third time.”

Forced recruitment has also been reported in village tracts between Lashio and Mong Yai, including Man Pyin, Man Jae, Nar Nang, and surrounding areas. In some communities, the pool of eligible men has already been exhausted, prompting village elders to travel to the MNDAA base in Salween Village to request exemptions.

“They are collecting soldiers in almost every area under their control,” the Nam Pong resident added. “They demanded 10 people from the Man Pyin village tract, but because there was no one left to give, village elders and community leaders had to go to Salween Village to plead with the Kokang.”

Residents report that since the MNDAA handed back Lashio’s 12 urban wards to the junta in April 2025, it has expanded recruitment efforts across rural areas, effectively shifting the burden onto surrounding villages.

Amid the escalating recruitment pressure, the Kokang News Network reported on January 25, 2026, that the MNDAA had released 500 junta soldiers and five other detainees under an amnesty program.

As both the military regime and the MNDAA intensify recruitment in overlapping territories, residents fear they are being caught between competing armed authorities, with increasingly limited options to avoid forced enlistment.