The Burma Army (BA) has killed a 40-year-old woman working for the government’s agriculture department, in her home after shooting at a youth who ran away after being stopped at a checkpoint in Mindat town in southern Chin State.
According to a local, Lane Lai died on the spot after the bullet entered her home and pierced her lower back. The military urged the family to cremate her on 12 December, the day she was killed, forcing residents to quickly build a tomb for her remains.
According to the Mindat Post, on the same day that she was killed, soldiers arrested a Christian pastor from Kyar Doh village at a military checkpoint at Sauk Lok Yay junction in the town. They took him to their Light Infantry Battalion 274 base, accusing him of communicating with the Chinland Defence Force (CDF), which is fighting to overthrow the regime.
In the afternoon, CDF attacked a BA column of 120 soldiers between Shwe Awng Tha and Kyee villages. After the attack, the military stormed Kyee, burned a motorbike, destroyed houses and stole 80,000 kyat ($50) and gold jewellery from the village.
Three people have been killed by BA gunfire in Mindat, including an employee of the General Administration Development Office for Mindat Township. A baby was also hit by a bullet and survived.
On 5 December, a 49-year-old woman died instantly after stepping on a hidden landmine planted by the BA outside her house in Mindat. She was returning from her farm with her four-year-old daughter and sister, both of whom were also injured by the blast.