Myaung Township Civil Defence and Security Organization

The Myaung Township People's Defence and Security Organization (Civil Defense and Security Organization Myaung – CDSOM) was formed on April 19, 2021. After the Myanmar military violently crushed protesters in Myaung Township and the decision was made to take up armed revolution, leader Ko Nway Oo formed the CDSOM on April 13, 2021, together with village tract strike leaders and CDM leaders. In an interview with Mizzima on the CDSOM's first anniversary, it said that one of its aims is to fight military dictatorship by uniting with allies, and that, true to this aim, by uniting not only with armed revolutionary forces in Myaung Township but also with other revolutionary forces in the region, it has been able not only to confront the Myanmar military but also to gain control of territory.

"We carried out the revolution by joining with allies. Because this great revolution won't be finished just by our one group or one person fighting. We'll only succeed if people with the same aims come together and fight. Only by uniting like this will we become stronger. Only then can we fight down this terrible evil system," Ko Nway Oo said.

In a January 2022 interview with Myanmar Press Photo Agency, Ko Nway Oo said that 22 of the 24 organizations based in Myaung Township were currently operating under CDSOM coordination. The interview also said that, from its founding through 2021, it had fought more than 20 battles with the Myanmar military together with other township organizations based in the region.

The CDSOM has formed alliances with forces based in Myinmu, Chaung-U, Sagaing, Yesagyo, Ye Lae Kyun, Seikmeekhon and Ngazun, and together with them has fought battles with the Myanmar military and carried out guerrilla attacks in the region.

In 2022, the CDSOM joined the National Unity Government's Ministry of Defence as a People's Defence Team (PaKaFa), and is responsible for the duties of Myaung Township's People's Defence Team (PaKaFa) and People's Security Team (PaLaFa). Because Myaung Township is in Sagaing District, some Myaung-based armed groups were reorganized into Sagaing District battalions.

The CDSOM attended the first Sagaing Forum in May 2023, and Ko Nway Oo served as one of the Sagaing Forum's spokespersons. Then, on June 12, 2023, the Sagaing Region PaKaFa officer under the NUG Ministry of Defence suspended Ko Nway Oo, who was serving as Myaung Township PaKaFa officer for recruitment, training and military affairs, from his PaKaFa duties. Ko Nway Oo told Myay Latt Athan that not only the CDSOM but also some other PaKaFa and People's Defence Force (PDF) units attended the Sagaing Forum.  After that, PaKaFa and PDF units under the NUG Ministry of Defence, including the CDSOM, were no longer seen attending the second Sagaing Forum. Ko Nway Oo has also continued to serve only as CDSOM leader, and is no longer seen taking part in the Sagaing Forum or the Sagaing Forum Federation.

On December 3, 2021, the CDSOM and the Myingyan-based Hnalone Hla Lu Mike Gyi Group seized the military-owned Shwe Gyo Phyu oil tanker and a BOC vessel, which were carrying fuel from Mandalay to Monywa on the Chindwin River. Fuel from the two seized vessels was distributed to villages in the region at two barrels per village. In addition, the CDSOM announced on December 3, 2021, that together with local forces it had opened gates at five entry and exit points to Myaung Township, attempting to control the township.

The Myanmar military then reinforced the township police station with about 50 troops, and from December 5, 2021, blockaded Myaung town on all sides with 150 troops, retaking control of the town in mid-December. However, it has still not regained control of villages in Myaung Township and areas held by revolutionary forces. The Myanmar military has continuously sent columns into villages in Myaung Township, burned homes and carried out air strikes, and Myaung is one of the townships that has suffered most from the Myanmar military's raids and arson.

The CDSOM and other Myaung-based revolutionary forces have also faced offensives by the Myanmar military's commando column, the Bilu column. The Bilu column has brutally beheaded captured revolutionary members and suspects, raided villages and killed villagers by cruel methods, raped local people, taken people as human shields, and killed hostages used as human shields. After arriving in the Myaung area in March 2023, on March 5 the Bilu column advanced with 150 troops and seized a CDSOM camp.

It then continued to Ye Lae Kyun and seized defence force camps in Ye Lae Kyun and Myingyan. The CDSOM and revolutionary forces then resisted the Bilu column, with clashes on March 21, 2023. On the night of March 22, fighting continued with the joint forces; 19 members of the Bilu commando column, including its column commander, were killed, and the column withdrew from Myaung Township. The operation was led by the CDSOM, with allies including Myinmu CRF, Sagaing District Battalion (1) Company 3, Battalion (2) Company 3, Battalion (6) Company 2, MGN 35, 11 Brother Force, Young Man and LCAR, and Myingyan District Battalion (2).

Then, on March 30, 2023, the Bilu column re-entered Myaung Township with about 90 troops and attacked a defence force camp near Swe Lae Oh village, killing several comrades, including Ko Sin Yine, deputy commander of Sagaing District Battalion No. (1). Ko Sin Yine was beheaded, and his head was taken and dumped elsewhere. Besides serving in Sagaing District Battalion (1), Ko Sin Yine was also a training officer in the CDSOM.

After Bo Sin Yine was killed, the CDSOM expanded by forming the Sin Yine Column in June 2023, and in September 2023, together with other Myaung-based forces, carried out a drone attack on the Myaung Township General Administration Office, where the Bilu column was temporarily based. The Sin Yine Column has used drone technology to carry out continuous guerrilla attacks.

The CDSOM continues to work under the guidance of the National Unity Government's Ministry of Defence and operates in Myaung Township as well as Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions, particularly fighting together with forces around the Ayeyarwady River. According to statements, the CDSOM also took part in the People's Defence Force (PDF) attack to capture Kawlin in November 2023.