At dawn this morning, Chin People's Defence Force (PDF) soldiers attacked the Tuibual military camp, a stronghold of the Tatmadaw, the Myanmar military, near the Myanmar-India border.
On February 1, 2021, Tatmadaw generals overthrew Aung Sun Suu Kyi's democratically elected government, tipping the country in to civil war. Second vice-president in Suu Kyi's government was Henry Van Thio, an ethnic Chin, formerly of Dunedin, who is believed to still be under house arrest in Myanmar.
This small battle, which continued late this afternoon (NZ time), is one of hundreds of thousands of small, on-going convulsions throughout Myanmar as the majority of the population, Bamar and ethnic minorities, wage a forgotten war, attempting to throw off the coup and its oppressive rule.
In this corner of Chin State, local villagers, including old women and a week-old baby, have fled to the comparative safety of forested hills to sit out the fight.
They reported Tatmadaw jet fighters have dropped four bombs, seriously injuring two PDF soldiers. The villagers offered assistance to the wounded men as they were transported to medical facilities.
Late morning (Myanmar time), they said the fighting, only a few kilometres away, continues, with the outcome still uncertain.
