Myanmar rebels seek to control border with India after early victories

MYANMAR:

Summary

• Insurgents continue to attack Myanmar’s Shan, Kayah, Rakhine and Chin states
• 43 Myanmar military troops surrender to Indian police – official
• Tanks are seen on the streets of Sittwe, Rakhine – resident

Anti-junta fighters in Myanmar’s Chin state were aiming to gain control of part of the porous border with India after early success in seizing two military outposts on the remote mountainous border, a senior rebel commander said.

Dozens of insurgents battled Myanmar’s army from dawn to dusk on Monday to seize two camps near India’s Mizoram state as part of a widening offensive against the junta-led government, the vice chairman of the Chin National Front (CNF) said. ) Sui Har.

Spokesmen for Myanmar’s junta and India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Myanmar’s military leadership is facing its biggest test since taking power in a coup in 2021 after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated attack in late October, seizing a number of towns and military posts.

The offensive, dubbed by the rebels as “Operation 1027” after the date it began, initially invaded junta-controlled areas on the border with China in Shan State, where military authorities have lost control of several towns and more than 100 military outposts.

“We are continuing our attacks in northern Shan state,” said Kyaw Naing, a spokesman for the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which is part of the operation.

Fighting also broke out on two new fronts this week, in the western states of Rakhine and Chin, sending thousands of people fleeing to Mizoram.

About 80 insurgents launched attacks on Rihkhawdar and Khawmawi camps in Chin around 4 a.m. on Monday, eventually taking control of both exits after several hours of fighting, Sui Khar said.

After the battle, 43 Myanmar soldiers surrendered to Indian police and are currently sheltering in Mizoram, local police official Lalmalsawma Hnamte said.

“Whether they will be pushed back or not, we are waiting for further instructions from the central government,” he told Reuters.

India’s federal home ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sui Har and the Chin Human Rights Organization said they believed some of these soldiers may have been involved in atrocities against civilians.

The Chin rebels will now try to consolidate their control along the India-Myanmar border, where the Myanmar army has two other camps, Sui Khar said.

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“We will move forward,” he told Reuters, “our tactic is from the village to the city to the capital.” Chin State, which has been largely peaceful for years, has seen heavy fighting since a 2021 coup by junta leaders with thousands of residents taking up arms, many aided and trained by the CNF.

Chin’s rebellion was supported by locals in Mizoram, in part because of close ethnic ties, and tens of thousands of people from Myanmar sought refuge in the small Indian state, including ousted state and federal lawmakers.

TANKS ON THE ROADS

A resident of Rakhine’s capital Sittwe and social media posts said tanks had appeared on the city’s streets after fighting erupted in the western state.

The junta has imposed a curfew in Sittwe and residents have been ordered not to leave their homes after 9pm and businesses must close by 8.30pm or face legal action, according to a government document and media reports.

“We saw tanks driving around the city. Many shops are closed today,” a resident told Reuters, who declined to be named for security reasons.

“Schools are open, but families did not send their children to school today.”

Fighting broke out across Rakhine state, according to two residents and a spokesman for the Arakan Army (AA), a group fighting for greater autonomy that has seized military positions in the towns of Rathedaung and Minbya.

A resident of Rathedaung told Reuters on Tuesday that the area had come under artillery fire overnight and that army soldiers had entered the town.

“Artillery fell on a road in Rathedaung town last night. There is no immediate report of injuries or casualties yet,” said the resident, who asked not to be named.

“People are starting to leave the city. The soldiers are in the city now.”

The country’s military-appointed president last week said Myanmar was at risk of falling apart because of an ineffective response to the insurgency – the most significant opposition since the 2021 coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Generals say they are fighting “terrorists”.