Since the fall of the democratic government, the regime’s armed forces have burned down more than 70,000 homes, with Chin State the third most impacted area of Burma, Data for Myanmar has found. The human rights organisation discovered that some 1,637 houses were set on fire in Chin State: 302 in rural areas and 1,335 in towns from 1 May 2021 to 31 May 2023. 1,299 houses were destroyed in Thangtlang. Over 200 houses were burnt down in Falam and Hakha townships. “They have targeted villages located in the strongholds of the Chinland Defence Force (CDF) in their brutal attacks…
Author: Editor
International agencies have provided the materials to rebuild the huts of civilians displaced by fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and government soldiers in southern Chin State since 2018. “Their houses were built two years ago and now the roofs and walls are no good and already damaged,” a volunteer told Khonumthung News on condition of anonymity. He explained that the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has sent over 90,000 pieces of bamboo and 6,000 poles for huts in the five internally displaced person (IDP) camps in Paletwa. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provided tarpaulins and plastic sheeting.…
Last week, soldiers released four medical staff who had been abducted from Agape Hospital in Hakha. “They were not tortured in prison, but they were asked many questions,” said an anonymous source, who explained that the nurses had joined the nation’s Civil Disobedience Movement against the dictatorship. Nurses Henny, Sianlun, Hniang Sung and J Mawi were taken from the private hospital on 21 May to the prison in the Chin State capital. Dr Sicilia was also abducted but was released three days later because she isn’t a staff member at Agape. With its maternity ward and surgical department, the hospital…
On Monday, Chin National Army (CNA) soldiers Salai Sum Oo (aka Hung Lay) and Salai Htawng Naw Huay (aka Sung Pi) were killed by regime shelling during a morning battle on Lung Hker Hill between the towns of Hakha and Thangtlang in Chin State. The Zotung Post has announced that the fallen CNA soldiers were ethnic Zotung. Since the end of May, approximately 150 Burma army soldiers have been shelling the resistance forces in Timit Valley and around Lung Hker Hill every day. The resistance claimed to have killed nearly 50 sit-tat soldiers, most of them from ambushes, and 17…
The Chin National Front (CNF) is trying to restrict travellers from entering Chin State after the regime is reportedly sending its troops in plainclothes to the state in civilian vehicles and buses to avoid frequent ambushes by resistance groups fighting the military regime. A CNF statement on 8 June said, “CNF has banned outsiders from entering Chinland. People living in Chin State are allowed to move freely in Chin State.” If someone needs to come to the state because of a emergency, they can apply for a letter of recommendation from the respective Chinland Defence Force (CDF) or People’s Defence…
The Matupi Chinland Defence Force (CDF) engaged in a skirmish with about 120 soldiers of a regime column coming from Matupi town after it attacked Ram Tein, near where the resistance fighters were in southern Chin State. Ko Naing John Keim, CDF spokesperson for Matupi, said the army took a lesser road through the jungle where the resistance groups retaliated with light and heavy weapons. As they received intelligence about the direction of the columns, he said they were able to withdraw from the village area in Matupi Township without any casualties. Chin Community Affairs and the local IDP support…
The military regime has reportedly opened 300 schools in 8 of the 9 townships in Chin State, announcing that 35,434 students have returned to classes on 1 June—a record since the military coup when many teachers walked off the job to join the country’s Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).A mother from Hakha said, “I don’t want to send my children to school under the military junta, but there is no school run by the National Unity Government in this area. I cannot afford to send my children to a private school because the fee is 100,000 kyat ($50) per month.” The…
A number of soldiers have died during intensive fighting between the Burma army and the Chin resistance in Timit Valley, which lies between Hakha and Thangtlang townships in northern Chin State. Salai Htet Ni, spokesperson of Chin National Front (CNF), the political wing of the Chin National Army (CNA), said that jet fighters bombed them for three days to clear the area for the regime’s ground troops, who were moving in two columns through the valley from Hakha to Thangtlang at the end of May. He said at least 12 Chin resistance fighters were killed and 10 wounded, while 27…
On Monday, the Burma military pounded the Chin resistance with jet fighters and airships in Thangtlang Township in northern Chin State as it moved 150 soldiers overland from Hakha to the town of the same name.Chin National Front/Chin National Army spokesperson Salai Htet Ni said the regime called in the airstrike against resistance forces near Lungkhar village, located near the Timit River between Hakha and Thangtlang and below the river, on 29 May, causing some casualties.The regime has used excessive force hoping to retake the area, which has long been held by revolutionary groups. Junta soldiers have burned down over…
Many civilians were killed or maimed when they accidentally detonated landmines in areas of northern and southern Chin State where the regime is fighting with resistance forces.U Chan Kee Yang was killed after stepping on a landmine while searching for wild grass for his goats between a government housing and a technical school outside Hakha town on 24 May. His family, who had reportedly heard the explosion, set out early the next morning to collect his body after the military refused to let them go when the accident occurred. Unfortunately, the entire search party, which included four family members and…