Anti-regime groups in Chin State say they attacked a hilltop military base and captured an outpost during raids carried out in Thantlang Township early Monday morning.
According to Salai Htet Ni, spokesperson for the Chin National Front/Army, the attacks began at around 5am and later triggered junta airstrikes.
“We raided the Thantlang base and managed to seize control of a security outpost, but then military jets came and dropped three bombs,” he told Myanmar Now on Monday.
The Chinland Defence Force (CDF), one of the groups involved, seized six weapons in the assault but lost three of its members, he added.
According to other sources in the area, the Chin resistance forces also took two junta soldiers prisoner.
The airstrikes, which began at around noon, damaged four buildings, including a church, in the village of Khuafo, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization.
Khuafo, a small village of around 70 households located just outside of the town of Thantlang, has been deserted since it last came under attack on March 30.
At least 10 civilians, including women and children, died in that attack, which was the deadliest in the state since the start of the conflict more than two years ago.
Thantlang, the township’s administrative centre, has also been largely abandoned since it became the target of a major military offensive in September 2021.
Arson attacks by regime forces have destroyed hundreds of houses and three churches in the town, which once had a population of around 8,000. Most residents have since fled to neighbouring villages or the Indian border.
Resistance forces have stepped up their attacks on junta targets in the township since February, forcing troops stationed there to retreat to a single base on a hill near the entrance to the town.
The regime has been conducting a months-long campaign in the Timit River Valley, which separates Thantlang from the state capital Hakha, in a bid for control over the area.
In late July, junta forces captured a CDF base near Thantlang after receiving air support during a clash with the group.
According to local media reports, Chin forces recently attacked soldiers from the military’s Infantry Battalion 268 in Falam Township, northeast of Thantlang, and seized several weapons.
That incident also triggered airstrikes, which reportedly left six civilians in the village of Ram Htalo, on the Falam-Hakha road, injured and destroyed a house and a church.
Eight of Chin State’s nine townships are currently under martial law. In July, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said the military would intensify its operations in Sagaing Region and Chin and Karenni (Kayah) states.
