165 Myanmar Military Regime Soldiers Killed In Clashes In Chin State

JAKARTA - A total of 165 soldiers of the military regime were killed and 123 others were injured in a shootout with civil resistance fighters in Chin State, Myanmar.

Meanwhile, on the side of the civil resistance fighters as many as 30 civil resistance fighters were killed and 45 people were injured. And, nine civilians were killed with four injured.

The Chinland Defense Force in a statement as quoted by The Irrawaddy Sunday, June 13, said that all these figures came from armed clashes during the last 49 days until June 11, between their side and the Myanmar military regime.

However, the figures have not been independently verified, while the Myanmar military regime has yet to put a casualty on their side in the armed clashes in Chin State.

The gunfight in Chin State began on April 24, when residents grabbed homemade hunting rifles and launched an attack on a police station in the mountaintop town of Mindat. Residents launched the attack after police broke promises to release six detained military anti-coup protesters.

Since then, the residents of Chin State have formed civil resistance forces in every township to fight the junta's forces.

Clashes between civil resistance fighters of the Chinland Defense Force and regime forces have been reported in six of the nine townships of Chin State, including: Kanpetlet, Mindat, Hakha, Thantlang, Falam, and Tedim.

In gunfights, most civil resistance fighters were armed with homemade hunting rifles, as well as old-fashioned single-barreled weapons, as opposed to heavy explosives, artillery, rocket-propelled grenades, automatic weapons to air strikes.

Meanwhile, gunfire in Hakha and Thantlang Townships killed 27 junta soldiers including an army captain, and reportedly left several others injured.

Last week, about 50 junta soldiers died as fighting escalated between regime forces and Chin civil resistance fighters in Mindat. Clashes broke out when military forces tried to attack villages hosting internally displaced persons in the northern part of the city.

After losing large numbers of soldiers, the junta bombed the civil resistance fighters twice using warplanes. In the clashes in Mindat, the Myanmar military deployed Battalion 274 based in Mindat and an artillery unit based near Kyaukhtu, Magwe Region.

Civil resistance fighters from the Chinland-Mindat Defense Force claimed junta forces frequently used chemical weapons, saying some military explosives did not contain shrapnel but left civilian fighters unconscious or dizzy.

About 90 percent of Mindat's 25,000 population have fled their homes since junta forces seized the city on May 12. Meanwhile, due to the exchange of fire in Thantlang between civil resistance fighters and the Myanmar military regime, more than 1,000 civilians have fled their homes.

To note, the Myanmar military regime deployed reinforcements of troops and weapons to attack villages protecting residents who fled from Mindat.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.