BBC
Myanmar's once-formidable army is cracking from within – riddled with spies secretly working for pro-democracy rebels, the BBC has found.
The military has full control of less than a quarter of Myanmar's territory, a BBC World Service investigation reveals.
The junta still controls major cities and remains “extremely dangerous”, according to the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar. But it has lost significant ground over the past 12 months.
The spy soldiers are known as “Watermelons” – green on the outside, rebellious red on the inside. Outwardly loyal to the army but secretly working for pro-democracy rebels whose symbolic color is red.
A major based in central Myanmar says it was the army's brutality that pushed 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 to our own people? We are supposed to protect civilians, but now we are killing people. It's no longer an army, it's a force that terrorizes.”
More than 20,000 people have been arrested and thousands killed, according to the UN, since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, sparking an uprising.
Kyaw initially thought about leaving the army, but decided with his wife that becoming a spy was “the best way to serve the revolution.”
When it judges it safe to do so, it discloses internal military information to the People's Defense Forces (PDF), a civilian militia network. The rebels use this information to set up ambushes for the military or to avoid attacks. Kyaw also sends them part of his salary so they can buy weapons.
Spies like him help the resistance achieve what was once unthinkable.
The BBC assessed the balance of power in more than 14,000 village groups in mid-November this year and found that the military is in full control of only 21% of Myanmar's territory, almost four years after the start of the conflict.
The survey reveals that ethnic armies and a patchwork of resistance groups now control 42% of the country's territory. Much of the remaining area is contested.
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“Win Aung”, a former intelligence officer, is one of the agents who runs the spy network
Leaks of information about Watermelon within the military help tip the scales. Two years ago, the resistance created a specialized unit to manage the growing network of spies and recruit more.
Agents like Win Aung (pseudonym) collect Watermelon leaks, verify them if possible, then pass them on to rebel leaders in the affected area.
He is a former intelligence officer who defected to the resistance after the coup. He says they now receive new watermelons every week and social media is a key recruitment tool.
Their spies, he says, range from low-ranking soldiers to high-ranking officers. They also claim to have a stake in the military government – “from ministries to village chiefs”.
They go through a strict vetting process to ensure they are not double agents.
Motivations for becoming a spy vary. While in Kyaw's case it was anger, for the one we call “Moe” – a corporal in the navy – it was simply a desire to survive for his young family.
His wife, then pregnant, pushed him, convinced that the army was losing and that he would die in combat.
He began leaking information to the Watermelon Unit about weapons and troop movements.
This type of intelligence is crucial, says pro-democracy rebel leader Daeva.
His resistance unit's ultimate goal is to take control of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city and its former home. But they are far from it.
The military retains the majority of large urban areas, which are home to essential infrastructure and revenue.
“It is easier said than done to attack and occupy (Rangon),” said Daeva. “The enemy will not give up easily.”
Unable to physically enter the city, Daeva, from her base in the jungle, directs targeted attacks by underground cells in Yangon using Watermelon's intelligence.
In August, we saw him make such a call. We weren't given the details, but we were told it was to direct an assassination attempt on a colonel.
“We will do it within the security parameters of the enemy,” he told them. “Be careful, the enemy is losing in all directions,” he added, telling them that this meant they were more likely to be on alert for infiltrators and spies.
Daeva claims that several major attacks carried out by her unit were the result of information.
“We started with nothing and now look at our success,” says Daeva.
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Daeva plans resistance attacks against the army using information provided by Watermelon
But this comes at a cost. Watermelons must live in fear on both sides, as marine corporal-turned-spy Moe discovers.
Deployed from Yangon to Rakhine – a border region where the army is fighting an ethnic group allied with the resistance – he had to live with the terror that his intelligence could mean he himself was under attack.
In March this year, his anchored ship was hit by a missile projectile, followed by open fire. “There was no place to run. We were like rats in a cage.” Seven of his comrades were killed in the rebel attack.
“Our ability to protect (moles) is very limited,” admits Win Aung. “We cannot publicly announce that these are watermelons. And we cannot prevent our forces from attacking a particular military convoy.”
He says that when this is explained to the watermelons, they don't wobble. Some even responded: “At that point, don’t hesitate, shoot.”
But there are times when spies can no longer stand danger.
When Moe was scheduled to be sent to another dangerous front line, he asked the Watermelon Unit to smuggle him to a resistance-controlled area. To do this, they use an underground network of monasteries and refuges.
He left in the middle of the night. The next morning, when he did not show up for work, soldiers came to the house. They questioned his wife Cho, but she remained silent.
After days on the run, Moe arrived at one of Daeva's bases. Daeva thanked him via video call, before asking him what role he wanted to play from now on. Moe responded that, given his young family, he would like to play a non-combat role and would instead share his knowledge of military training.
A few weeks later, he entered Thailand. Cho and the children have also fled their home and hope to eventually join him and build a new life there.
The army is aggressively trying to regain lost territory, carrying out a wave of deadly bombings. With Chinese and Russian-made fighter planes, it has the upper hand in the air. He knows that the resistance is far from constituting a homogeneous group and seeks to exploit the divisions between them.
“As the junta loses control, its brutality increases. The situation is getting worse. The loss of life…the brutality, the torture as it loses ground, literally and figuratively,” said the special rapporteur of UN, Tom Andrews.
The army also carries out watermelon sweeping operations.
“When I heard about the sweeps, I stopped for a while,” says Kyaw. He says he always acts as a strong supporter of the military to avoid unwanted attention.
But he is afraid and doesn't know how long he can stay hidden. Defection is not an option, as he fears abandoning his aging parents. For now, he will therefore continue to act as a military spy, in the hope of one day seeing the revolution end.
If and when that day comes, watermelons like Kyaw and Moe will not be forgotten, Win Aung promises.
“We will treat them with honor and allow them to choose what they want to do next in their lives.”
The army did not respond to the BBC's request for an interview.
About the data:
From February 12 to November 13, 2024, researchers commissioned by the BBC interviewed multiple sources for each of more than 14,000 village groups to assess the level of military control in their area.
Names and boundaries of village groups come from the Myanmar Information Management Unit, or MIMU, hosted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
In each case, the research team spoke to at least one source without official affiliation with the military or opposition – such as academics, charity workers, journalists and local residents.
When sources provided conflicting information about a village group, unaffiliated sources were prioritized and cross-checked with media reports.
The responses were divided into three possible categories of control:
Military: The army is present and active in the region. It manages a local administration or provides certain public services, all of which operate normally. Disputed: The army is present in the region, but its effective control has limits. This could include areas where general administration and public services are not fully operational, or where the military divides administration with regional ethnic armed forces. It also covers areas where opposing forces may enter and exit, and where skirmishes between opposing forces occur. Resistance groups and ethnic armies: The army is largely absent and has not conducted field operations for more than three months. Civilian services may be provided by resistance forces, ethnic armies, or a civilian government, probably supported by an armed rebel militia.
Parts of the country are designated as forests and are not mapped by village groups. They have different administrative structures, mainly dealing with resource extraction and conservation. The BBC has chosen to focus on areas of Myanmar that have a clearly defined system of governance.
Additional reporting by Becky Dale, Muskeen Liddar, Phil Leake, Callum Thomson, Pilar Tomas, Charlotte Attwood and Kelvin Brown. Methodological support by Professor Lee Jones, Queen Mary University of London.
