Military forces under the State Administration Council (SAC) have killed at least 9 people and injured 35 others in Mindat Township through 67 airstrikes, artillery strikes and other attacks in 2023, according to Mindat Chinland Defence Force (CDF), a Chin armed group opposing SAC forces in southern Chin State.
Ko Lauren, a member of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Management Committee for Mindat Township, reported that their village meeting came under artillery and airstrikes.
He explained that SAC’s Infantry Battalion 274 in Mindat town frequently subjects them to indiscriminate shelling, especially when their ‘alliance groups’ are on the move.
With the regime unable to launch a ground offensive, it has increasingly relied on airstrikes and artillery attacks from its base camp. He predicts this trend to escalate in the future.
CDF reported this year has witnessed the destruction of 103 homes, 4 Buddhist monasteries, 5 churches, 6 schools, 2 cars, and 17 motorcycles in the township due to airstrikes and artillery attacks.
Bombings from air vessels were responsible for killing 6 civilians and injuring 15, with 2 CDF fighters sustaining injuries.
SAC artillery claimed the lives of 3 civilians, 1 CDF fighter, andinj ured 23 individuals in the township, including 3 Chin soldiers. Another CDF fighter was killed in direct combat, and 10 were injured.
Lauren said, “SAC still controls Mindat town, but we control all of the villages in Mindat Township, and all of these places are under CDF’s control.”
In 2021, SAC troops patrolled 10 times and only twice in 2022. This year, the regime has become entirely reliant on aerial offensives.
According to the CDF, they have engaged in 32 clashes with SAC this year, primarily in Mindat town or at its entrance.
The Chin group claims to have killed 72 enemy soldiers and wounded 41 in these confrontations.