Successfully Seized Two Military Posts, Anti-junta Myanmar Group Trying To Master The Border With India

The Myanmar (left) and India (right) borders were divided by the Tiau River. (Wikimedia Commons/Ericwinny)

JAKARTA - Anti-junta military fighters in Chin State, Myanmar, are trying to control the border with India, after successfully taking over two military posts on a remote mountainous border, a senior commander of the group said.

Dozens of anti-junta fighters fought against Myanmar's military from dawn to dusk on Monday to storm two camps bordering India's Mizoram State, as part of a broader attack on the junta, said Vice Chairman of the Chin National Front (CNF) Sui Khar.

About 80 rebels launched attacks on the military camps of Rihkhawdar and Khawmawi in Chin at around 4 a.m. on Monday, and eventually took control of the two outposts after hours of fighting, Sui Khar said.

After the fighting, 43 Myanmar soldiers surrendered to Indian police and took refuge in Mizoram, local police official Lalmalawma Hamante said.

"Whether they will be postponed or not, we are waiting for further instructions from the central government," he said.

Sui Khar and Human Rights Organization Chin said they believed some of these soldiers might be involved in atrocities against civilians.

Chin rebels will now consolidate their control along the Indian-Myanmar border, where the Myanmar military has two more camps, Sui Khar said.

"We will move forward. Our tactics are from the village to the city to the capital," he explained.

Chin state, which has been largely peaceful for years, witnessed fierce fighting after the 2021 coup carried out by junta leaders with thousands of residents lifting weapons, many of whom were assisted and trained by CNF.

Chin's rebellion was supported by local residents in Mizoram, partly due to close ethnic ties, and tens of thousands of people from Myanmar seeking refuge in India's small states, including ousted state and federal lawmakers.

Myanmar's military junta has faced their biggest test since taking power through a coup in 2021, after three ethnic minority forces launched coordinated attacks in late October, capturing several cities and military posts.

The attack, which the rebels called "Operation 1027" according to its start date, initially took place in a junta-controlled area on the border with China in Shan State, where military authorities have lost control of several cities and more than 100 security posts.

"We are continuing the attack in northern Shan State," said Kyaw Naing, spokesman for Myanmar's National Democratic Alliance Army, who took part in the operation.

Fighting also took place in two new fronts this week, in the western states of Rakhine and Chin, which caused thousands of people to flee to Mizoram.

Separately, Myanmar's military-appointed president last week said his country was at risk of breaking out due to an ineffective response to the uprising, the most significant resistance since the 2021 coup that toppled Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government.