Chin resistance fighters ‘kill another soldier’ in ambush at military-owned bank

Resistance fighters in Chin State’s capital of Hakha said they killed another Tatmadaw soldier in an ambush on Tuesday night during a third consecutive day of fighting.

The Chinland Defence Force (CDF), a guerilla group formed to fight back on behalf of civilians against the military, now claims to have killed a total of nine soldiers in Hakha since Sunday.

The group’s fighters ambushed soldiers at around 8.30pm on Tuesday near a military-owned bank, a spokesperson for the CDF in Hakha told Myanmar Now.

“Our forces attacked two soldiers who were standing guard in front of the Innwa Bank,” he said. “One died on the spot. The other was injured.”

No CDF fighters have been killed in the recent clashes, the group said. 

The military has stepped up security at checkpoints outside the town and has been conducting inspections there, locals said.

“Security has been tightened a lot. They’re standing guard with guns at the police station. The soldiers are patrolling not only with their vehicles but also on foot,” a Hakha resident told Myanmar Now.

But residents are going about their business as usual and shops are open, the resident said.

Chin-based media outlets reported that after the attack soldiers arrested two men and one woman who live near the bank.

Myanmar Now is unable to verify the number of soldiers killed by CDF. The military’s spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

The CDF was formed in early April with ethnically Chin people from nine townships in Chin State as well as from areas outside the state.

It launched an attack on Sunday after it issued a statement warning the military to release 60 locals who had been detained and the military failed to do so, the group said. 

The first four soldiers died during fighting at a checkpoint near a military outpost. Then on Monday night at 11pm CDF fighters ambushed another checkpoint at the No. 6 traffic junction, killing the other four and injuring another 10 soldiers.

Late last month the CDF said it killed about 30 Myanmar military soldiers during four days of fighting in Mindat.