Washington Post Analysis: SAC Uses Conscript Reinforcements to Reverse Some Territorial Losses — Junta Retains Air Superiority Despite Controlling Under 40% of Townships

A Washington Post analysis published April 29-30, 2026 assessed that Myanmar's military junta, bolstered by tens of thousands of conscript soldiers from 14+ drafting rounds under the February 2024 People's Military Service Law, has reversed some of the territorial losses it suffered in 2023-2025 and appears poised to resume offensive operations. The analysis noted the SAC still controls fewer than 40% of Myanmar's 330+ townships — a dramatic decline from approximately 70% at the time of the February 2021 coup — but retains decisive air superiority that no resistance force has been able to match. The junta's air campaign, documented by ACLED at 2,602 sorties in 2025 alone (the highest annual total since the coup), continues to compensate for ground force degradation and allows the SAC to project power into territories it cannot physically occupy. The recapture of Falam (Chin State, April 26) after a year of resistance control illustrated the junta's improving capacity to concentrate forces for retaking strategic urban centers. The Post's assessment aligns with the SAC's April 23-24 martial law expansion, which represents an attempt to formalize military governance over contested territories rather than acknowledging the de facto resistance administration that prevails in many of those areas. The analysis was published the same day that the SCEF unified resistance council (NUG, CRPH, KIO, KNU, KNPP, CNF) completed its formal standing-up — noting that the resistance coalition formed the most unified political-military structure since the coup precisely as the junta was attempting to consolidate its own gains.