Outbreaks continue to spread in northern Chin State and Saigang Region. With multiple townships now affected, health officials announced stay-at-home orders for one of them. In Tongzang Township, two more people died from COVID-19. Altogether, four people have died, while 33 have acquired the pathogen in the township. A man told Khonumthung News his colleague, a 52-year-old pastor, died at 7 am on June 3 in Kyihka town. A 54-year-old woman died a couple of hours later. After medical staff tested 98 people, they discovered over one-third are positive. In total, health authorities detected 167 cases: 83 in Tongzang town…
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After two bombs exploded in a southern Chin State town, the military council detained eighteen youths from civil society organizations. Seven were released, but authorities are keeping the rest locked up at Paletwa Myoma Police Station. According to a local, Sani Awng, chair of Khumi Literature and Culture Committee and Aik Khine Win, a medical university student, were freed in Paletwa town. Meanwhile, Burma Army blocked vehicles from Matupi and Sami towns and boats on the Kalandan River on May 29, raising fears food costs and other staples in Paletwa will rise. “They are arresting people without any reason. Youths…
A civilian resistance group denied responsibility for two bombs at a bank and government office in Paletwa, accusing an ethnic armed organization (EAO) of planting them in a small town in southern Chin State. A Chinland Defense Force member in Paletwa told Khonumthung News they had nothing to do with the explosions in front of Myanma Economic Bank and General Administration Development office. Both blasts occurred a minute apart starting with the government office at 7:15 am on May 29. “We would have sent a warning before doing something like this,” the official said. “We won’t make trouble for the…
Medical staff in a hospital in a small northern Chin State town struggle to contain an outbreak where there are seven active cases and only three health workers without a doctor onsite. Altogether, twenty-five transmissions have been detected in Kyihka, Tongzan township, from May 11-27. The senior nurse told Khonumthung News the cases were discovered during testing at the outpatient department. Most recovered and have been sent home. “We have to take care of all our patients ourselves and call the senior physicians to ask their suggestions before administering medical treatment,” the nurse explained. Doctors and other medical staff who…
On May 25, 2021, HWPL’s 8th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of World Peace was held online and attended by around 3,000 people from 150 countries around the world. This event is held annually by an international peace NGO named Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) in association with its affiliated groups, International Peace Youth Group (IPYG) and International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG). With several cases of international partnership for peacebuilding projects endorsed by youth and women organizations categorized by each region – Africa, Europe, and Asia, this year’s event aimed to discuss a citizen-led peace movement and…
Most of Matupi’s population fled on Sunday after a rumor circulated that fighting would break out in the town in southern Chin State. “Only a few people remain. The rest sought refuge in the villages,” a man from Matupi informed Khonumthung News. Last week, Burma Army arrested seven people from several villages in Matupi Township. Two are from Hpa Nai, two from Shengki, two from Herl Tu and one person from Kyok. Authorities eventually released two people. Police detained eleven people and are holding them at the Matupi Myoma Police Station. Burma Army is confiscating all the fuel arriving in…
After the military regime announced that public schools must reopen next month, no students enrolled for classes in schools in Hakha and Thangtlang towns in Chin State. A parent in Thangtlang said their school was locked this Monday because no one came to register for classes scheduled to start June 1. There are two high schools, two middle schools and one primary school in town. “The education level in our country is the lowest among the countries in the region,” a parent from Hakha said. “Our children didn’t go to school last year because of COVID-19. And then the Burma…
Almost the entire population of Mindat have fled the military siege by the Burma Army last week and now sheltering at several internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in the jungle in the township with the same name. “Everybody is scared” a volunteer explained after Burma Army fired 60 artillery shells and used a military helicopter to attack a civilian resistance group in the tiny town in southern Chin State last week. The violence and martial law, enacted around the same time, drove out ninety percent of the population. According to the source, there are only a few elders left in…
Chinland Defense Force (CDF) retreated from a southern Chin State town that it held off for days against the Burma Army on Saturday after the military sent waves of troops in dozens of helicopters, then overrunning the town with relentless artillery strikes, even stooping to the cowardly act of using human shields. An official from CDF in Mindat said when soldiers finally got through: “They broke the doors arresting any men inside the houses,” explaining why they had to flee to the jungle, leaving only the elderly, women and children. CDF said in a statement it retreated to avoid unnecessary…
Volunteer teams from Joseph Oxygen have been prevented from bringing people needing emergency medical care to the hospital after its rescue vehicles in Matupi town were seized by the Burma Army last month. “Some patients have died because they couldn’t make it to the hospital,” a local man told Khonumthung News. The military arrested Tun Lin Oo, chairperson of the organization, at 10 pm, April 7. Later that day, eight of its vehicles were seized. Van Nay Kein, who works with Joseph Oxygen in Matupi, was detained on April 29 and released the next day. Altogether, Burma Army arrested five…