Resistance forces seize control of strategic highway base, limiting junta access to Chin State from Magway

Allied ethnic Chin resistance forces seized a strategically important junta base in southern Hakha Township in Chin State on Monday morning, according to the Chin National Front (CNF), which was involved in the attack. After a three-hour assault that relied on the use of drones, the guerrilla groups overran the site in Bungzung village at around 11am, CNF spokesperson Salai Htet Ni said. The base—considered a major outpost but manned by around 70 soldiers—is strategically located along the 70-mile stretch of highway connecting Gangaw in Magway Region with Hakha, the Chin State capital. While it was not outfitted with heavy weaponry, it has been considered a necessary stop for junta reinforcements sent from central Myanmar to the Chin hills and is critical to the military’s supply line into the region. “We now have control from the entrance of Magway to Hakha in Chin State,” Salai Htet Ni explained, referencing the Bungzung base’s importance to the resistance’s strategy: to cut off the military’s access to western Myanmar, as well as to establish and expand their own supply routes. The Bungzung military outpost, seized by the Chin resistance on December 18 and located between the towns of Gangaw and Hakha, is marked with a red flag (Myanmar Now) The CNF spokesperson said that he did not know how many casualties the military suffered during the loss of the post. A captain was reportedly among those who were captured alive, with resistance forces scouting the area in search of troops who had escaped. Two members of the Chin armed groups, which included the CNF and the Chinland Defence Forces of Hakha and Thantlang, were killed and six others injured. The military council has not released any information concerning the capture of the Bungzung base. Chin resistance forces have recently seized control of around seven towns in Chin State, including Rihkhawdar, Lai Lin Pi, and Reh Zua. The attacks come as the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organisations in northern Shan State—including the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army—have established control over some 12 towns and hundreds of junta bases in under two months. Despite having superior weaponry at its disposal, at the time of reporting the junta had been unable to re-occupy any major outposts or towns occupied by resistance forces in recent weeks.

Resistance forces seize control of strategic highway base, limiting junta access to Chin State from Magway

The targeted military outpost had served as part of the regime’s supply line and as a stop for reinforcements sent from central Myanmar to the Chin hills

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