Junta closes in on Falam, threatens Chin State’s only airport

Junta troops have pushed to within 11 miles of Falam and are closing in on Chin State's only airport, threatening to retake the strategic town a year after resistance forces seized it, Chin commanders said. One junta column advancing from Taingen, west of Kalay, has crossed Var Bridge en route to Falam after six months of fighting. A second column moving up through Webula is nearing Surbung Airport, according to the Chin Brotherhood and the Chinland Council, the resistance groups defending the town. "Since they have advanced from the Taingen side and crossed Var Bridge, they are quite close to Falam," Salai Yaw Man, a Chin Brotherhood spokesperson told Myanmar Now."On this side, they reached Khuangli village, which is very close to Surbung Airport. So we are in a very concerning situation." The Chin Brotherhood Alliance captured Falam, considered Chin State's second capital, in April 2025. The junta launched its counteroffensive in late September, taking heavy casualties before reinforcing with ground troops from the Kalay Regional Operations Command and stepping up airstrikes. Surbung Airport, 13 kilometers west of Falam, opened in 2013 as the state's first airport. Falam itself sits along a vital trade route to the Indian border and is the gateway to Hakha, the state capital and a junta stronghold. Chin resistance fighters in Falam shortly after seizing the town from junta forces in April 2025. (Chin Brotherhood) "If they manage to take Surbung Airport, they can reinforce ammunition and food supplies via that air route, creating a situation where they could launch an offensive to retake all of Chin State," said Zin Yaw, a former junta captain who defected to the resistance side."If Falam falls, the regime would have a significant advantage." The Chinland Council controls Tonzang Township in the north. The junta holds Hakha and Tedim and partially controls Thantlang, sources say. Resistance forces fully control the south, with the Chin Brotherhood holding Matupi, Mindat and Kanpetlet, and its ally the Arakan Army holding Paletwa. Last week, resistance fighters raided a junta outpost near Khuangli village and seized a cache of weapons and ammunition. At least 42 Chin anti-junta fighters have been killed and more than 100 wounded in the battle for Falam Township, according to a March analysis from the Institute of Chin Affairs Inc. For Salai Yaw Man, the threat extends well beyond a single town."If they regain control of Falam, and they manage to reconnect the territory covering Thantlang, Hakha, Falam and Tedim, it would become very concerning for the resistance groups," he said. "They could come down from the Hakha side toward Rezua. After getting to Rezua, they can launch an offensive from Rezua toward Matupi. There could be a domino effect from military operations."

Junta closes in on Falam, threatens Chin State’s only airport

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