Chin resistance fighters injure two in clashes with junta forces

Local resistance fighters in the southern Chin State town of Kanpetlet say they injured two members of the junta’s armed forces in a pair of attacks on Thursday night.

The Chinland Defence Force (CDF) said it clashed twice with soldiers late Thursday night—once outside a branch of the state-owned Myanma Economic Bank at around 9pm, and again at a police outpost at around midnight.

“Our side didn’t suffer any casualties. Two on their side were injured. But no deaths have been reported so far,” a spokesperson for the CDF told Myanmar Now.

He added that there are no military bases in Kanpetlet, and just one police outpost.

Kanpetlet has seen massive protests since the military seized power on February 1, and many of its civil servants, especially those in the health and education sectors, have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.

Kanpetlet is located about 50km south of Mindat, where martial law has been imposed in the wake of heavy fighting that began late last month.

Thursday’s clashes in Kanpetlet were the first reported in the area since the coup.

In a statement released on Thursday, the CDF warned residents of the town to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary and urged workers from other areas to return to their own towns. 

It also said that people should refrain from travel to Kanpetlet and the neighbouring towns of Yaw and Saw in Magwe Region.

According to the CDF spokesperson who spoke to Myanmar Now on Friday, there were no people out on the streets of the town, which went quiet soon after the statement was released.

As of Friday evening, no further clashes were reported in the area, as the regime’s forces had still not responded to the attacks and the CDF members were monitoring the situation. 

However, local news reports said that two military trucks had been seen entering Kanpetlet from Seikphyu Township in Magwe Region on Friday morning. Seikphyu is located about 120km from Kanpetlet on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River.

At the time of reporting, the junta had not made any mention of the incidents in Kanpetlet on Thursday.

Meanwhile, fighting continues into the weekend in Mindat, where the latest round of clashes began on Wednesday. According to sources, military reinforcements have been seen approaching the town from both the east and the west.

On Thursday, clashes were also reported in Magwe Region’s Kyaukhtu Township, about 30 km east of Mindat, according to the local People’s Defence Force (PDF).

One soldier was fatally shot and four others were wounded, according to a statement by the Kyaukhtu PDF on Thursday.

Residents of a number of towns and cities in Chin State and Sagaing, Mandalay and Magway regions have formed township-level PDFs since the National Unity Government announced the establishment of a People’s Defence Force in early May.

The resistance fighters are mostly relying on hunting rifles, airguns, and homemade explosives to defend their towns from attacks by the regime’s armed forces.