The Chin National Army (CNA) and allied forces under the Chin Council have seized four regime outposts on the Timit Plain between the state capital of Hakha and Thantlang over the past week, according to the council.
CNA-led troops captured Ruavazung outpost on the Timit Plain near Hakha at around 9.30 am on Saturday after heavy fighting claimed the lives of at least 13 junta soldiers, including the commander of Infantry Battalion 222 and three other officers, according to the council.
The Chin forces said they captured 19 junta soldiers and a large cache of weapons and ammunition at Ruavazung, located on Ki Yam Mountain.
Attacks later the same day on the neighboring junta outposts at Umpu Puaknak and Nawn Thluak Bo resulted in several more junta casualties and the seizure of arms and ammunition, they added
“There are still at least two other junta outposts remaining in the Timit Plains area,” said a Chinland Council member.
Combined forces under the Chin Council (CC) launched the operation last week to clear junta outposts from a 35-kilometer stretch of the Timit River plain between Hakha and Thantlang.
The CC, formed last December as the political body overseeing the Chinland government, named the offensive Operation Jericho.
Chin troops captured the first of the four junta outposts, Point No. 3 strategic hilltop outpost overlooking the Timit River, on November 26.
A conflict analyst explained that Timit Plain is a strategic target for allied Chin forces as it would allow them to launch attacks on Hakha, which remains under junta control.
The analyst added that control of the area would also enable the CC to cut off the junta’s route for transporting supplies and reinforcements to Thantlang.
As CC forces advance on the Timit Plain, allied Chin Brotherhood Alliance (CBA) troops are attacking junta positions in the townships of Falam to the south and Mindat to the north.
The CBA’s Chin Defense Force (CDF) Mindat launched an offensive on November 9 in Mindat Township, where the junta has responded with airstrikes.
In a statement issued today, CDF Mindat vowed to liberate the entire Mindat Township, which houses the junta’s Infantry Battalion 274. Falam is under Infantry Battalion 268.
Since the popular uprising against the 2021 coup, newly formed Chin resistance groups, along with the CNA, the armed wing of the Chin National Front, have seized 11 towns across Chin State. Meanwhile, the Arakan Army has seized Paletwa and Sami towns on the southern border with Rakhine State.
