Zokhawthar, India
Reuters
Two days after rebel forces in Myanmar’s Chin state overran the junta’s two military bases close to the border with India, they have taken control of a border crossing point between the two countries across the tiny hilly Indian state of Mizoram.
People who fled Myanmar carry their belongings across a bridge that connects Myanmar and India at the border village of Zokhawthar, Champhai district, in India’s north-eastern state of Mizoram, India, on 15th November, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Chanchinmawia
MYANMAR REBELS SAYS DOZENS OF JUNTA FORCES SURRENDER, CAPTURED
Dozens of members of the Myanmar security forces have surrendered or been captured, a rebel group said on Wednesday, as a coordinated offensive by insurgent groups battling the junta gathers pace in several parts of the country.
At least 28 policemen gave up their weapons and surrendered to the Arakan Army, while 10 soldiers were arrested, said the group which is fighting for autonomy in Rakhine State in western Myanmar.
Reuters could not independently verify the information from the AA, which is one of three ethnic minority insurgent groups that launched a coordinated offensive against junta forces in late October.
A curfew has been imposed in the Rakhine State capital Sittwe, where military tanks have been sighted, the administration there said.
The rebels have captured some towns and military posts, including on the border with China, presenting the junta with its biggest test since the military took power in a 2021 coup, ousting an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
A junta spokesperson, Zaw Min Tun, on Tuesday accused the rebel groups of “destroying the whole country” and said reports of captured military posts were “propaganda”.
“The enemies retreated after they lost soldiers. We are trying to combine small posts strategically,” he said.
The spokesperson said fighting was going on in Shan, Rakhine and Kayah states. He did not comment on reports of junta forces surrendering.
Fighting has also been reported in Chin State in the north-west, where 43 Myanmar soldiers crossed into the Indian state of Mizoram after a rebel attack, a police official in Mizoram said.
Most of the Myanmar soldiers were flown by Indian forces to another point on the border and handed back to Myanmar authorities, said an Indian security official who declined to be identified.
Myanmar’s military-appointed President last week said the country was at risk of breaking apart because of an ineffective response to the rebellion by fighters the generals denounce as “terrorists”.
The military has for decades said it is the only institution capable of holding diverse Myanmar together. Critics of military rule dismiss that and call instead for a democratic, federal system.
– Reuters
Most of the nearly 5,000 Myanmar nationals who had fled to India to escape intense fighting between the rebels and Myanmar military since early Monday morning had returned home as the situation calmed down, local leaders said.
Rebel forces intend to take control of part of the porous border with India.
Myanmar’s generals are facing their biggest test since they seized power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts.
The offensive, named by rebels as “Operation 1027” after the date it began, initially made inroads in junta-controlled areas on the border with China in Shan State, where military authorities have lost control of several towns and more than 100 security outposts.
Since then, fighting has spread to two new fronts in the western states of Rakhine and Chin.
While calm had largely returned to the serene valley along the Indo-Myanmar border on Wednesday afternoon, air raid sirens could be heard in India’s Zokhawthar village from the Myanmar side warning residents of potential strikes by the military.
Surrounded by lush green hills, the Chin flag was hoisted on a gate that welcomed visitors to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar at the Zokhawthar border crossing.
India’s paramilitary Assam Rifle and armed rebels on the Myanmar side guarded the two ends of the border bridge over Tiau river, which people crossed freely on Wednesday.
A source in the Chinland Defence Force group said it would guard the border with two other rebel groups – the People’s Defence Force and the Chin National Army.
“We will also guard another strategic locations nearby,” he said.
Ramtharnghaka, president of the local Zokhawthar chapter of the civil society group Young Mizo Association, said that most the Myanmar nationals who had crossed over were from nearby towns.
“While some stayed at a community hall, others were taken in by their friends and relatives,” he said, adding that most had now gone back.
People who fled Myanmar sit outside their sheds in a relief camp at the border village of Zokhawthar, Champhai district, in India’s north-eastern state of Mizoram, India, on 15th November, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Chanchinmawia
Among those fleeing the attacks near Zokhawthar on Monday were 43 Myanmar soldiers who escaped the surprise attack by the rebels and entered India.
The Indian authorities eventually sent most of them back by flying them to another border crossing point a few hundred kilometres east.
