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ANTI-JUNTA CHIN FIGHTERS KILL MORE THAN 20 MYANMAR TROOPS
- By The Financial District
- May 16, 2021
- 2 min read
The Myanmar military junta seized the mountain town of Mindut in western Chin state on Saturday, May 15, 2021, after struggling in its efforts to crack down on daily protests and carrying out raids on the civilian defense forces in the town.
"We have left our town to them as we don't want our civilians injured and killed more," a leader of the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) from Mindut told Athens Zaw Zaw and Natalie Skrzypczaak of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) by telephone on May 16, 2021.
"They bring the soldiers by helicopters to attack our town. They destroyed our town and people are injured," he added. According to estimates by the prisoners' aid organization AAPP, at least 788 people have been killed since the February 1, 2021 coup. More than 5000 have been imprisoned.
At least 15 people were reportedly injured on Saturday. There was initially no information on deaths. Myanmar's military declared martial law in Mindut on Thursday, pointing the finger at "armed terrorists."
The CDF was formed on April 4 by the civilians in nine townships in Chin State, including Mindut, to defend against what it dubs the junta's bully tactics.
Mindut had been the most active town in the fight against the military coup.
The civilians from Mindut have been fighting with the advantage of knowing the region's geography and their hunting skills, using handmade rifles and bombs against the junta. According to local news reports and information from the ground, more than 20 junta soldiers were killed by the CDF during four days of battles from April 24 to April 27.
The National Unity Government (NUG) fighting the junta issued a statement on Saturday urging the international community to take immediate action to end all violence in Mindut. "Attacking the civilians in Mindut by shelling, heavy battlefield weapons and by using seven helicopter gunships with 1,000-plus forces ... These junta terrorist forces are using Mindut civilians as human shields to protect themselves," the statement said.
