Chin anti-regime forces are being blocked in the Chin State town of Tonzang by Myanmar’s junta and its allied Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA).
Residents say junta troops are preventing them from leaving Tonzang, which has around 1,000 households and a largely Zomi population.
“They don’t let people carrying their belongings leave the town. We don’t know what to do,” a resident told The Irrawaddy.
Christian representatives and other community leaders have reportedly asked both sides to avoid fighting and released a statement this month saying residents were too poor to lose their homes.
“We don’t want fighting. We dread to think what will happen to us and our possessions if fighting starts. Homes are the cornerstone of Chin communities. We are not against the revolt but we don’t want our town to end up like Thantlang,” he said.
Thantlang on the Indian border has been flattened by regime raids, arson attacks and airstrikes.
Fighting was reported on Monday night in Tonzang and a battle broke out between Chin forces and the junta and its ZRA allies near Narsan village on the Tonzang-Kyeekha road.
Two churches and four houses were damaged by a junta airstrike on Lonetet village in Tonzang Township on Saturday.
Over 1,000 residents from Lonetet and two neighboring villages fled to Khampat town in Tamu Township, Sagaing Region, following the air raid, according to residents.
“We left because we feared fighting and the airstrikes came after we left, damaging homes,” said a Lonetet villager.
The Chin Defense Force (CDF) in Tonzang says it plans to attack junta positions in the hills west of Tonzang. The area was peaceful until April.
Four resistance groups, including the Zoland People’s Defense Forces, are based in Tonzang.
The ZRA is a Zomi nationalist group formed in 1993. With Indian approval, it became a border force based in the Indian state of Manipur. It established itself in Chin State in 2013 and became allied to Myanmar’s regime after the 2021 coup.
The Chin National Army (CNA) last week urged the ZRA to break its alliance with the junta and stop attacking Chin resistance groups.
Tonzang’s population is divided between support for the ZRA and CDF, which is allied to the CNA.
