Myanmar junta forces suffered heavy casualties when resistance forces attacked their Thaing Ngai village outpost in Chin State’s Tedim Township on Tuesday, according to the Chinland Defense Force (CDF)’s Civic Defense Militia-Siyin.
Junta forces provided air and artillery support for ground troops, bombing the village three times during the seven-hour battle, which lasted from 5 am to 12 pm.
Around 30 junta soldiers were killed in the fighting, while a combined force of six resistance groups suffered four fatalities and two wounded, a CDF spokesman said.
“The fighting was fierce. Resistance fighters seized bunkers and trenches [of the junta outpost] in the fighting. Resistance fighters on the front line reported finding many bodies [of junta troops] in trenches. They were hit so hard that they called in air support. We could have seized the outpost had it not been for the warplanes,” he said.
Resistance forces first attacked the outpost with drones on Monday night. But when the drones were shot down, they decided to conduct a dawn raid.
Resistance groups said they seized six small arms with bullets, some four-dozen 40 mm grenades, and other ammunition from the outpost.
Thaing Ngai is strategically located at the junction of the Tedim-Falam road from Sagaing Region’s Kale, and the road to India. Between 40 and 60 junta troops from Light Infantry Battalion 269 were deployed at the village outpost.
PDF-Kale also used remotely detonated mines to ambush six trucks of junta troops sent to reinforce the outpost.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the junta casualty figures.
