Renewed fighting in southern Chin State between the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) and the military has affected civilians from ten villages in Mindat Township. A volunteer helping the villagers displaced from the recent clashes told Khonumthung News it is difficult to determine how many civilians were affected by the hostilities because some have taken refuge in the jungle while others are hiding among their farms. “They are facing many difficulties,” the source said. They do not have enough food to eat or medicine, and since the army blocked rice shipments from reaching the township, even those with money cannot buy…
Author: Editor
Chin youths arrested in May and charged with incitement had their trial rescheduled until August 2, after authorities closed the courts because of Burma’s third wave. The July 26 trial for the five youths charged with Article 505 (a) of Burma’s Penal Code will convene on August 2, a woman close to their families told Khonumthung News. Authorities detained the youths after two explosions went off in Paletwa town, southern Chin State. Altogether, armed forces arrested eighteen people, including members of a civil society organisation, later releasing thirteen. On June 17, they charged the five youths with Article 505 (a)…
Seven members of the armed forces defected to a civilian resistance group fighting against Burma’s military regime in southern Chin State. The police officers and soldiers, including a military captain, left their posts at a police station in Ma Kwi Ein Nu, Mindat Township, to join Chinland Defense Force (CDF), bringing their weapons with them. A CDF officer told Khonumthung News after surrounding the police station on Saturday, July 24, that seven police and soldiers defected. “We told them it isn’t good to shoot at each other and asked them to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).” The other five…
The military has prevented the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees (UNHCR) from providing vital assistance to the majority of civilians displaced after the Burma Army laid siege to the town of Mindat in May, and during the fighting that ensued with Chinland Defence Force in the weeks that followed. When UNHCR representatives arrived in the small, mountain town in southern Chin State this Monday, the military informed them they could only help internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are living in the 10 camps in Mindat sanctioned by the regime, and not in camps in Mindat Township, where most of…
Fighting erupted between Chinland Defence Force (CDF) and Burma Army in Mindat Township for the first time since a temporary ceasefire expired last week. According to CDF, the violence began on Wednesday, July 21, at 6:45 am, after a Burma Army column was dispatched to Shwe Twin Tuu village (AKA Ghui Kyum) near Magwe Region. Meanwhile, a second Burma Army column is marching towards Mindat from Matupi. On July 19, soldiers were spotted at milepost No. 70. There are six Burma Army battalions in Mindat Township. According to CDF, two battalions are conducting covert operations in the region. Burma Army…
An outbreak in Paletwa continues to grow. A total of 112 have tested positive, of which 90 are still receiving medical care in the hospital in the southern Chin State town. Hospital director Dr. Soe Thet Win told Khonumthung News all of his patients are in stable condition. Since the first infection happened in June, no one died from COVID-19 in the town, the doctor explained. Although most of the cases are from Paletwa, there are 15 from Myeik Wa village and 2 from the town of Sami. With a staff of 2 doctors, 23 nurses and a midwife, at…
The People’s Defence Force (PDF) ambushed a Burma Army column in southern Kalay Township on Thursday morning during fighting that continued until the evening. According to a PDF member of the chapter in Sagaing Region, there were 17 government soldiers killed and 2 members from the resistance who died during multiple clashes that broke out when the Tatmadaw column passed Tinthar, Kyauk Hpoo, Doh Nwe and Ashay Si villages. Villagers told Khonumthung News the Burma Army killed two innocent civilians who are not PDF members. The military column is staying in Kyauk Hpoo and Ashay Si. PDF issued a statement…
Fatalities continue to rise in northern Chin State as outbreaks in Falam, Tedim and Tongzan townships worsen, killing over 75 people from July 2 to 13. A volunteer for a prevention group in Falam Township said 25 died in Falam town, and 4 were killed in the villages. Most of the patients in town had diabetes or high blood pressure and they didn’t get enough oxygen, a combination that might have contributed to their deaths. The hospital has only one generator capable of producing 30 tanks a day, not enough for everyone who needs it. In Tedim town, there were…
The military refused to return the bodies of four Kuki youths after soldiers killed them in Tamu Township, last Saturday, July 10. Soldiers told their families they buried them. Soldiers shot at six youths on a bridge connecting Min Tha and Kyun Pin Tha villages at 10 pm, instantly killing two and wounding three others. One boy shot in his calf managed to escape. The military detained three of the other wounded youths and took them to their military camp in Min Tha village. Soldiers freed one of the youth on Monday, informing the families of the others they were…
The military shot dead two youths in Tamu District, Sagaing Region, on Saturday, July 10. The next day authorities informed their parents in Nawng Ket village to retrieve their bodies. Soldiers killed the ethnic Kuki teenagers and injured another during the 10 pm attack on Min Tha bridge in Kyun Pin Tha village. At least four others were with them, and some—or all—escaped when the soldiers opened fire, a man from Tamu town familiar with the incident informed Khonumthung News. A day earlier, soldiers arrested four youths from Nawng Ket at 10 pm. A resident told Khonumthung News soldiers took them…