Allied resistance armies seized two towns in northwestern Myanmar, one of the groups said this week.
The joint forces captured Matupi township’s Lalengpi and Resaw towns in battles that ended on Wednesday.
Resistance fighters attacked and captured a junta outpost with about 50 soldiers in Resaw after four days of fighting, a Chin Defense Forces official told Radio Free Asia.
“Our joint team, led by Chin Defense Forces, seized it on the morning of November 29,” he said. “We currently control the town. We had some casualties too.”
Eleven junta soldiers surrendered, and four soldiers from the ethnic armed alliance died, he added.
The Chin National Army, the armed wing of the more than 20-year-old political organization Chin National Front, partnered with ethnic armed group Chin Defense Forces, to carry out the attack.
In Tuesday and Wednesday’s battles, junta troops launched at least 20 airstrikes to defend their position, locals said.
Since Saturday, fighting has forced nearly 3,000 Resaw residents to flee for their safety, they added.
Earlier that week, the alliance secured another Chin town in Matupi. Joint forces managed to also seize Lalengpi’s junta outpost last Friday, Chin National Front spokesperson Salai Htet Ni told RFA.
"We, the joint forces of the Chin National Army and Chin Defence Forces, seized the outpost on the morning of the 24th,” he said, adding that junta soldiers had since fled from the camp. “There is only one outpost in Lalengpi. We are currently in control of the entire town.”
Shrapnel from weapons and stray bullets killed four residents and damaged at least 10 houses, including a Christian church, according to locals.
About 30 junta soldiers fled the outpost on Friday during the clash. The group surrendered to the Assam Rifles security force in India, after crossing the border, according to residents living in the area.
Junta soldiers brought a villager from the India-Myanmar border as a guide, they added.
Junta troops who surrendered are currently seeking refuge in the Assam Rifles camp in Laki village in Mizoram state, said a Laki resident who did not want to be named for security reasons.
“They arrived at our village in the early morning of November 28, then they released the guide they had brought. Once they reached the Indian border, Indian soldiers went to meet them,” she said.
“They said three of their soldiers died on the way. There are about 30 of them left in total. I think they will be sent back to the border of Phaicham Veng village [in Manipur] by plane today.”
RFA attempted to contact Chin state’s junta spokesman Kyaw Soe Win, but phone calls went unanswered on Wednesday.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.