Chin National Army (CNA), the armed wing of the Chin National Front, and civilian resistance fighters captured a Burma Army (BA) camp over the weekend, killing 12 BA soldiers and burning down the camp in Thangtlang Township.
According to the civilian group Chin Defence Group (CDF), more than 400 fighters overtook the camp on 12 September, after an attack a couple of days earlier with half as many soldiers.
After attacking the camp near Lungler, a BA airstrike forced the Chin fighters to retreat on Friday. The plane bombed houses and a Christian church in the village. After regrouping, Chin forces captured the camp at 9:30 pm the next day.
Eight members of the CNA and CDF were injured. BA weapons, ammunition and other equipment were recovered.
Over 1,000 civilians from the area fled the fighting and Tatmadaw airstrikes.
One volunteer said he believed the number was much higher. “People are still leaving Thangtlang town today,” he said over the weekend. “I think half the population is seeking refuge in the villages.”
Fighting in the town began on 25 August. The Tatmadaw shelled homes with artillery, forcing the inner town residents to flee to the countryside.
Most are sheltering in schools, rudimentary camps that have been quickly set up, or with their relatives in the countryside.
Many escaped the violence with few rations with them to sustain themselves while they’re away from home.
However, the volunteer pointed out that the civilian population isn’t safe because the BA could soon launch new offensives in the villages. “We cannot say they’re safe until they flee to India,” he told Khonumthung News.
But some have safely crossed the border into India’s Mizoram State and are staying in Champhai District.
Pu Lawma, chair of United For Democratic Myanmar, told Khonumthung News, he’d spoken to the village headman in the Indian villages of Cherhlun and Ngharchhip confirming that people were staying in the public schools. ”Cherhlun and Ngharchhip are quite small, so there’s not enough food for everyone,” he explained.
They’re also accommodated in Thingsai village in Mizoram, where the local authorities are building temporary shelters for them.
Last Thursday, CDF attacked Tatmadaw soldiers in Hakha, the capital of Chin State. Several houses and churches were damaged in the fighting, which started at 1 am.