Fighting has escalated in southern Chin State, where the Mindat Chinland Defence Force (CDF) has been has been ambushing a Burma Army (BA) convoy of 80 vehicles, including two tanks, carrying rations and military equipment from Mindat to Matupi.
According to the Mindat CDF spokesperson, the resistance group killed at least five BA with landmines at milepost 16 on Saturday.
Fighting continued the next day, but he wasn’t sure if there were any casualties. On Tuesday, as fighting intensified, 15 BA soldiers died and many were wounded in fighting led by the CDF brigade commander.
The spokesperson said BA had cut phone lines along the road from Mindat to Matupi to hamper communication between Chin resistance groups opposing the dictatorship.
“We’re unable to contact our comrades on the front line where they (BA) have fired artillery… They’re slowly moving towards Matupi,” he told Khonumthung News.
The BA convoy set off from Kyauk Htu in Magwe Township and arrived in Mindat town on 24 March. The spokesperson predicted that it would take at least 10 days to reach Matupi, a distance of 105 miles.