Sagaing Federal Troops

Revolutionary forces in the Sagaing region came together to hold the Sagaing Forum in June 2023, attended by strike forces, political forces and local revolutionary forces, which issued statements. A Sagaing Forum Formation Committee was then formed to carry the forum forward, with a military working group under it. According to its statements, the military working committee met local defence forces (Local PDFs) in the second half of 2023, and in October opened basic military strategy trainings on codes and information security, urban guerrilla warfare, map reading, and internal infiltration and mass mobilization, attended not only by forum members but also by allied local defence forces.

Then, in early January 2024, the second Sagaing Forum was held, and as a result of the forum, the Sagaing Federal Council (Forerunner) was formed together with the Forum Formation Committee. In February 2024, the Sagaing Federal Council (Forerunner) organized the revolutionary forces within the Sagaing federal unit along military lines and formed the Sagaing Federal Troops. An announcement issued in April 2025 states that the Sagaing Federal Troops were systematically established with five main columns, member forces of the joint troops and reserve forces. The Sagaing Federal Troops are believed to include local defence forces that are members of the Sagaing Forum, but the joint troops have not announced which forces are included.

The Sagaing Federal Troops sit under the Sagaing Forum Federation, and their political aspirations are the same as the federation's. They are also seen to be working to bring in more local defence forces (Local PDFs). Politically, the Sagaing Federation has close relations with the Sagaing Federal Unit Hluttaw and is working toward the emergence of a Sagaing Region government and on humanitarian assistance, including for the Sagaing earthquake. It exchanges messages with the National Unity Government (NUG), the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), state federal councils, ethnic revolutionary organizations (EROs), political groupings and political parties.

In May 2025, the Sagaing Federal Troops announced that they had opened two three-month military training intakes and were continuing to recruit new members. They have not separately announced which forces are included or how their columns are organized. The Sagaing Federal Troops took part in the battle to capture Falam, led by the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF), a member of the Chin Brotherhood. They announced that Columns 3 and 5 were deployed for the Falam battle, and that two members were killed and four seriously injured.

After the Chin National Defence Force announced on April 10, following the capture of Falam by the Chin Brotherhood and allies, that the Sagaing Federal Troops had fought in the battle, the Sagaing Federal Troops officially announced their formation. When the troops' columns returned from Falam to their base area in May 2025, they were warmly welcomed by the chair, executive and working committee members of the Sagaing Forum Federation, members of the military working group, comrades of the joint troops and local residents.