Almost all the inhabitants of Thangtlang have fled after the Burma Army (BA) shelled the town in northern Chin State, destroying houses and murdering a religious leader. This was a retaliatory attack after suffering defeat in battle with Chin resistance forces. The BA shot dead in cold blood the Baptist pastor Cung Biak Hum, for trying to rally others to put out fires in at least 19 houses that were shelled on 18 September. After the shelling, most of the residents fled to the Indian border, to the mountains or to villages in Thangtlang Township. “Now I’m living as an…
Author: Editor
At least 19 homes in Chin State’s Thangtlang town caught fire after the Tatmadaw shelled them with artillery following clashes with Chin National Army (CNA), the armed wing of the Chin National Front, and Chinland Defence Force (CDF). A pastor was shot by the military when he attempted to extinguish the fires. Khonumthung News interviewed a local youth leader who requested anonymity to learn more about the situation in the town located about 40 km from Hakha, the capital of Chin State. Can you explain why many houses caught fire in Thangtlang town on the evening of 18 September? Combined…
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…
The bodies of eight villagers killed by the military were cremated in southern Kalay Township, Burma’s Sagaing Region. It’s believed that some of them were villagers from Yay Shin where the Burma Army (BA) attacked on September 3 and fired on people’s houses. At least 7 houses and several vehicles were destroyed by fire and soldiers searched the houses of the residents and stole their property in the village on the east bank of Myit Tha River. A man from Yay Shin said that due to the poor decomposition of the bodies, they could only identify three villagers and didn’t…
On August 28, a webinar was held on the human rights of vulnerable children for the development of Thailand attended by 3 local experts in the fields of education, human rights and journalism. The event was held by an international peace organization, Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL), to discuss the need to improve awareness and guarantee the human rights of fragile children in need of emergency relief. According to UNESCO, one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, close to half the world’s students are still affected by partial or full school closures, and over 100 million additional children…
Khonumthung News interviewed Pu Htet Ni, spokesperson for the Chin National Front (CNF), to learn about how the ethnic armed organisation (EAO) has been training young civilians to fight against the military regime. The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) maintains chapters in all of the townships in Chin State to fight against the military junta. Can you explain more about how the CNF has trained some of these civilian combatants as well as those from People’s Defence Force (PDF)? Well, young men, also called Generation Z, have joined the armed struggle after the February 1 military coup. They are members of…
The people of Sami are running low on rice and other supplies because the military has blocked both transport routes to the town in southern Chin State. ”We can not go to eat in a restaurant and we can not buy rice,” said one local, adding that everyone knew these vital supplies would eventually run out when soldiers blocked both roads into the town in Paletwa Township in late August. The townspeople asked Burma Army (BA) for permission to deliver more rice from Kyauktaw after the price of a bag skyrocketed to 40,000-80,000 kyats ($24.50-$49), which is more than anyone…
Villagers affected by the prolonged conflict at Mindat Township are at risk of running out of food and medicine if fighting between a civilian resistance group and the military, which resumed in July, continues in southern Chin State. “The villagers are struggling,” said a man from an internally displaced persons (IDPs) committee in the township. He said they and religious groups are helping some of them, but if there is no solution soon, they will have no food in two months. The Burma Army (BA) caused the crisis by restricting supplies to the township during the fighting with the Mindat…
Burma’s armed forces have killed more than a hundred civilians since they overthrew the democratically elected government in a coup on February 1, the day lawmakers were to be sworn into parliament. According to a report by Chin National Organisation (CNO), the Burma Army (BA) murdered 57 civilians, including 14 children and seven women and 51 members of the People’s Defence Force (PDF). The BA failed to return 7 bodies, preventing families from cremating or burying them according to their Chin Christian traditions. A member of the CNO told Khonumthung News that its team members, working with its international partners,…
A non-profit organisation that helps children who are physically and/or intellectually disabled has offered to teach them in their homes in Sagaing Region. The Disability Development Initiative (DDI), based in the town of Kalay, will start homeschooling this month. DDI director Joshua said, “We’re helping disabled children to continue their education because at the moment they aren’t able to do so due to various reasons.” He explained that they plan to have eight volunteer teachers teach the students in their homes and by the end of September they’ll start teaching some of them online through Zoom video conferencing. “We’re discussing…