Life has become all but impossible for residents of Matupi Township in Chin State, where the junta is executing its so-called four-cuts strategy after declaring martial law.
The strategy has been employed by the Myanmar military with some success since the 1970s to sever ethnic armies’ access to food, funds, information, and recruits.
In early January, the regime began blocking Matupi’s phone service, adding to existing internet restrictions and effectively cutting the township off from the outside world.
It is also using the township’s trunk road to bring in reinforcements, food supplies, and weapons, effectively obstructing the flow of goods into the area.
As a result, residents find it increasingly difficult to buy basic food or find out what is happening elsewhere in their township. A Matupi resident who recently arrived in Magwe Region told The Irrawaddy he had to ask fellow Matupi locals he met in Magwe about what was happening in their respective areas of the township.
The regime has imposed martial law in almost all Chin State townships. But Matupi has been the hardest hit.
Three months ago, the regime blockaded the roads linking Matupi with Mindat and Hakha townships as well as Paletwa town. It also imposed restrictions on deliveries of food and medicines. Shops in Matupi have been forced to close as stocks run out.
A Matupi resident who recently traveled to central Myanmar said: “There are no goods to sell in the town so there are no business activities. Even if you are willing to pay more than 100,000 kyats for a sack of rice, there is no stock.
“Residents with cars who leave town on visits or to transport patients are given money by well-off families to buy food for them. They share food until their purchases arrive.”
There are more than 50 village tracts in Matupi, and rice is sold through a quota system in rural villages controlled by local resistance groups. Chinland Defense Force (Matupi) spokesman Ko Naing June Kein said resistance groups had also sold rice to town residents struggling to buy the staple, but added that regime troops were sometimes forcing locals to buy rice for them.
Residents of Matupi town are facing greater difficulties than the rural population, said a town resident. Many are going hungry and public hospitals have run out of medicines.
“It is the town residents who are facing severe hardship. They have no food to buy, and hospitals have no medicine. For patients who need urgent care, we have to seek permission from military authorities to send them for treatment in other parts of the country,” said the town resident.
In late March, three junta trucks from battalions based in Matupi set off to resupply Htel Bwe military camp on the border of Matupi and Paletwa. Resistance fighters have repeatedly ambushed them on the road since March 29, killing and injuring junta soldiers.
“They are still moving towards Htel Bwe and are now escorted by a helicopter,” said Ko Naing June Kein.
Located on the border of Matupi and Paletwa, the camp is in a militarily strategic position. It is more than 48 km from Matupi, and the junta convoy has only made it to the halfway mark because of repeated ambushes. More clashes are expected between the two sides.
