As the civil war in Myanmar ground on, the competition between the junta's intelligence apparatus and the opposition movement became more intense. In response, the shadow National Unity Government and its armed wing, the People's Defence Force, began to develop intelligence capabilities of their own. At different levels and in different ways, these agencies performed the critical functions of intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination. Attention was also given to combat support and counter-intelligence. Their success in these endeavours, however, remained largely unknown.

In one of the British army's first primers on “small wars”, Charles Callwell wrote in 1896 that “in no class of warfare is a well organised and well served intelligence department more essential than in that against guerrillas”. This has since become a familiar maxim, quoted in countless books and taught in military academies around the world.

It has also been a lesson learned by authoritarian regimes in Myanmar, which has been wracked by insurgencies ever since it regained its independence from Britain in 1948. This lesson is now being relearned by the junta which seized power in February 2021 and is currently engaged in a bloody civil war against a coalition led by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and its People's Defence Force (PDF).

Myanmar has always been controlled through powerful intelligence agencies. The British colonial government relied heavily on intelligence collected through its police forces. After Ne Win's coup in 1962, the Military Intelligence Service was an ever-present threat to Myanmar's citizens. Between 1983 and 2004, the Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence and Office of the Chief of Military Intelligence exercised enormous influence over Myanmar's national affairs.

These days, the Office of the Chief of Military Security Affairs reaches into the lives of the population through an extensive network of spies and informers. Even before the coup, it had invested in technology that permitted it to tap internet connections, listen to phone calls, track social media users and locate mobile phone subscribers. CCTV cameras in the major cities carry facial and licence plate recognition software. This data is supplemented with imagery from drones.