Almost 300 Myanmar junta soldiers crossed the Indian border on Wednesday after being defeated by the Arakan Army and resistance allies.
Over 700 regime troops have crossed into India since mid-November.
According to Indian media reports, around 278 soldiers entered Bandukba in Lawngtai District, Mizoram, on Wednesday evening after a clash near the Karma River along the border.
The reports said the soldiers were fully armed and equipped and they spent the night at an Assam Rifles camp.
An AA statement said the junta personnel were from the Hnamada and Khan Kha Taung camps in Paletwa Township, southern Chin State.
The AA warned civilians on Sunday that junta personnel from the camps were fleeing and they may be armed and dangerous. It said its troops were chasing the fleeing soldiers.
In early January, 104 junta soldiers abandoned the Chin Let Wa camp in Paletwa after it was overrun by the AA.
They entered Mizoram and were reportedly flown by the Indian military to the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, on January 11.
In late December, 151 junta personnel fled their camp in Paletwa after it was captured by the AA and surrendered to the Mizoram police.
After resistance forces seized the border town of Rihkawdar on November 13 and a military outpost in Falam, more than 70 junta soldiers entered Mizoram.
India’s army chief General Manoj Pande told a press conference last Thursday that 416 junta soldiers crossed the border in November and December. Gen Pande expressed concern about border security and said the Indian military is closely monitoring developments.
The Indian military airlifted the junta troops back to Myanmar within days.
Junta troops suffering heavy losses following the launch of Operation 1027 by the Brotherhood Alliance on October 27 in northern Shan State have been surrendering or on the run without fighting back in several areas of Myanmar.
On Tuesday, around 600 troops from Light Infantry Battalion 539, including its commander, and soldiers’ families surrendered to the AA after being besieged in Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State.
