The Tatmadaw burnt churches and more than 20 houses in villages while sending troops and equipment from Falam to Hakha. This came amid a major military build-up in northern Chin State, which observers fear will soon turn into a bloodbath as the regime seeks to quell Chin resistance in the region.
According to one villager, as soon as they arrived in New Thlanrawn on 14 October, the soldiers began burning houses, where they remained for five days.
The Thlanrawn Emergency Response Committee (TERC) said the army burnt down 13 houses in the village. In Rialti, they destroyed all but one house, including the village church. In Taal, the soldiers destroyed four houses.
“When the Burma Army (BA) arrived in Falam on October 13, the villagers fled to the nearby jungle where they’re still hiding,” a senior member of the committee told Khonumthung News.
He said the damage in New Thlanrawn is estimated at 120M kyat ($64K). They plan to resettle 71 people from 13 families who lost their houses when they return.
TERC, formed in June, had stocked up on rations and had enough food to distribute to villagers uprooted by the recent violence.
Chin National Front and Chinland Defence Force attacked the convoy in Falam Township after it ascended into the Chin hills from Kalay town in Sagaing Region on 11 October. Thousands of civilians from seven villages fled the approaching soldiers, who raided and attacked their homes as they passed.
After learning that the military had sent tens of thousands of soldiers and heavy weapons to the northwest, Tom Andrews, UN’s special rapporteur on Burma, warned of ”more mass atrocity crimes” according to The Guardian.