Soldier-spies in Myanmar help pro-democracy rebels make gains

Military only has full control of less than a quarter of Myanmar 's territory, BBC investigation finds.

Spies are known as "Watermelons" - green on the outside, red on the inside, working for the rebels.

The junta still controls the major cities and remains "extremely dangerous" UN : More than 20,000 people have been detained and thousands killed since February 2021 coup.

Watermelons have to live in fear of both sides in Myanmar .

The military is aggressively trying to reclaim lost territory, carrying out a wave of deadly bombings.

They do this using an underground network of monasteries and safe houses.

Some have even responded: "When it comes to that moment, don't hesitate, shoot".

They have different administration structures, mainly dealing with resource extraction and conservation. The BBC has opted to focus on the areas of Myanmar which 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 . Methodology support by Prof Lee Jones , Queen Mary University of London ..