Chin Christian leaders have cancelled plans for a Christmas and New Year celebrations in Hakha for a third year in a row following the pandemic outbreak and military coup last year. Due to political unrest in the state, which has seen intense fighting between the Burma Army and resistance groups, religious leaders are urging Christians to scale back celebrations once again this year. Despite the importance of the Christmas holiday, which celebrates the birthday of Jesus Christ, pastors in the Chin State capital agreed to cancel mass celebrations after meeting on 11 November to discuss the matter. In a statement,…
Author: Editor
One male teenager was killed and two men wounded by Burma Army (BA) shelling in Hakha, northern Chin State. Locals heard gunfire a few minutes before the shelling began and reported that fourteen-year-old Salai Shalom Van was killed on the spot when a shell hit Kyaw Bok ward in the Chin State capital on the evening of 15 November. The men were working as security guards for the Moe Hein drinking water factory, where the boy was also present. Of the two men being treated at Hakha Public Hospital, one lost both legs in the attack. The BA have a…
The Chin National Front (CNF) expects the military regime to increase its reliance on airstrikes and has prepared to defend its headquarters in Camp Victoria against future bombardments after a surveillance plane recently flew over it in northern Chin State. CNF spokesperson Salai Htet Ni said fighting on the ground has drastically reduced compared to last year. In the past, many Burma Army (BA) battalions were deployed to the strategic command centres in Hakha and Matupi. He said that while they’ve reduced some of their operations, they’ve increased their air strikes against them. “Earlier, our troops used to fire at…
The Burma Army (BA) likely massacred civilians when soldiers raided their village in Mindat Township after fighting with the Chinland Defence Force in the area, a statement by the armed group fighting to take down the military dictatorship has said. According to CDF, on 7 November, about 120 soldiers raided Palon Twee, shot dead a villager and abducted nearly 40 people, including internally displaced persons who had fled previous fighting in southern Chin State. The ethnic Yaw village near Magwe Region has only 50 people living in 20 houses. The resistance group reported that junta soldiers abducted seven men and…
Authorities in Paletwa have allowed people to bring 1,400 bags of rice to the town in southern Chin State after the supply of basic foodstuffs was blocked since fighting broke out with the Arakan Army. Theoretically, each family could have bought a bag after presenting their papers, but there was not enough rice for everyone and the price of what was available was high. A woman told Khonumthung News she paid $34 for a sack of rice but before the army forced the closure of water routes into the town, a bag of rice cost only $25. She said eggs…
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.…
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…