At least three Myanmar military troops were killed in a clash in Shwe Aung Thar village in Magwe Region’s Htilin Township on Thursday morning, a member of the Mindat chapter of the Chinland Defence Force (CDF) said.
The military raided and took over the village on the Chin State-Magwe border on Wednesday, and the local resistance attacked the junta’s armed forces at 5am the following day.
However, within hours, the local defence force had to retreat due to the imbalance of arms.
“At 7am, they took out their artillery, and we had to retreat. We only had hunting rifles so we had to be within a close range to shoot them,” a spokesperson for the anti-coup Mindat Township People’s Administration in Chin State told Myanmar Now.
No members of the Mindat CDF were reportedly injured during the battle.
The group announced on Thursday that at least three but up to seven regime soldiers were killed in the clash and more than four were injured.
Clashes have continued to break out in nearby areas in recent weeks as the military continues to occupy villages.
A shootout between the locals and the military took place when soldiers and police came to inspect Htan Pin Kone village, three miles from Htilin, after a homemade bomb exploded at an education administration office in Htilin on May 3.
On May 4, the military council announced that “armed terrorists attacked soldiers on security duty in Htilin” and that “at least three members of the terrorist group were killed and a 29-year-old man named Nay Myo Aung was captured.”
Locals across Chin State and in townships bordering Sagaing Region, such as Htilin, located between Chin State and Sagaing in Magwe, have been fighting against the military using any weapons available.
Fighting has been particularly intense in Hakha, Mindat and Kanpetlet townships in Chin State.
On Tuesday, a clash between the junta’s armed forces and the Hakha CDF between Hakha and Matupi near Sukhwar, reportedly resulted in eight casualties from the military’s side and at least five injured.
One CDF member was shot in the chest and killed, according to local sources.
From Tuesday to Thursday, at least 11 soldiers from the military were killed, the local resistance has said.
The military imposed martial law in Mindat on May 13, forcing over 10,000 locals to flee their homes and seek shelter in nearby villages and forests.
