With winter fast approaching, the new villagers displaced by the fighting in Paletwa desperately need warm clothes and blankets to stay warm in the camp in the town in southern Chin State. The villagers, who’ve been living there since the fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Burma Army (BA) began in 2018, have enough to keep warm during the winter months, said a male volunteer. However, there’s no one to help the new arrivals, who’ve been displaced by fighting after an unofficial ceasefire collapsed. “They couldn’t take any of their belongings with them when they fled their villages.…
Author: Editor
Fearing new fighting will start anytime, residents of three villages in Paletwa Township, where the Burma Army and the Arakan Army are at war, have abandoned their homes. A Christian pastor helping them pointed out how it was better to leave the area where the soldiers are facing each other, as the villages are regularly shelled during the fighting. They might not be able to leave once the fighting starts. About 350 residents or 90 families from Thayar Kon, Kyauk Palin and Sap Tha Lawa have fled to Meezer village, which is not in the middle of the conflict zone.…
Several ethnic Dai groups have condemned the killing by the Matupi Chinland Defence Force (CDF) of an education officer who refused to stop working under the military regime in Matupi Township, Chin State. A recent joint statement by the North American Dai Community and International CDF Dai Supporting Committee alleged that the CDF killed Tin Lwi without providing any justification for his assassination. They said the Chin armed group failed to abide by a code of conduct set by the National Unity Government last February for the People’s Defence Forces fighting the Burma Army (BA) to overthrow the dictatorship. The…
Many of Kalay’s construction companies have gone out of business after costs rose dramatically since last year’s military coup, making them unprofitable. An engineer said cement and iron have become very expensive and estimated that half of the companies in the capital of Sagaing Region have ceased operations. He said the company he works for signed a contract before the coup and continues to work without raising prices, but may stop soon. “We’ll try to explain the situation to the house owner,” he told Khonumthung News. The engineer understands that ending a project in the middle of construction is a…
The Burma Army (BA) torched some houses near the cemetery in Rihkhawdar in what appears to be a retaliatory attack on the same day that the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) set off a remotely detonated landmine when junta soldiers entered the town. “About 10 soldiers from BA come to the town every morning. They’ve never done anything wrong, they just buy something and return to their camp. This morning, however, I heard the landmine explosion when they were attacked on their way to the market,” a local told Khonumthung News on condition of anonymity. After that, he heard heavy and…
The Paletwa community, including Christian and Buddhist leaders, has urged the Burma Army (BA) to reopen a vital water route so that basic necessities can be delivered to the township in southern Chin State, which has been closed for two months amid fighting between the junta and the Arakan Army (AA) resumed in the area. A Christian pastor from Paletwa said they were running out of rice, cooking oil, salt and gasoline. The leader, who asked that his name not be used, said they’d requested for the army to reopen the river between Chin and Rakhine states. “Three days ago,…
The Zoland People’s Defence Force (PDF), which is fighting against the military regime, has accused the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) of stealing the group’s weapons and other military equipment. In a statement on 17 October, the PDF demanded that the group return the items, which were bought with donations from the “people”. The ZRA reportedly beat up and abducted two youths who were carrying the weapons on the Mansuang Bridge on 14 October. The next day, the soldiers arrived at Hsai Zan, where they interrogated residents of the village. The PDF had asked ZRA by phone to return the stolen…
Dozens of regime soldiers have been killed during battles with resistance groups in Hakha and Thangtlang townships, according to the Chin National Front (CNF), whose military wing, the Chin National Army (CNA), along with a consortium of Chin resistance groups, are fighting the regime in northern Chin State. The Burma Army (BA) sent 40 soldiers to free junta soldiers pinned down by the resistance fighters. Some of these men died on the way when they were attacked by the CNA, Chin Joint Defence Committee’s Special Force and CDF fighters from Hakha, Thangtlang, Zophei, Lautu and Mara. A CNF officer told…
An education department officer working under the military regime in southern Chin State was found dead at his home in Matupi Township on the evening of 16 October. Unknown persons reportedly shot him around 8pm. At the time of going to press, it wasn’t yet known which armed group was responsible for Tin Lwi’s murder. A distraught man, who spoke to Khonumthung News on condition of anonymity, fondly recalled the time when he was Tin Lwi’s student in middle school. The man said he was a good person and respected by many people. “He was a good teacher and I’m…
The regime launched four airstrikes with fighter jets on Chin resistance forces after they pinned down a Burma Army (BA) column between Hakha and Thangtlang townships. According to the Chinland Post, no fighters from the Chinland Defence Force (CDF) and the Chin National Army (armed wing of the Chin National Front) were injured in the airstrikes in northern Chin State on 17 October. The armed groups had surrounded the BA column for several days during clashes before the junta sent in the fighter jets to free their trapped soldiers. In southern Chin State, the Kanpetlet CDF tried to shoot down…