Chin resistance forces captured two towns near the border with India in Chin State’s northernmost township on Sunday, the Chin National Army said.
Cikha and Tonzang towns, in Falam District’s Tonzang Township, were captured on Sunday morning after four days of fighting, the ethnic army’s spokesman Salai Htet Ni told The Irrawaddy.
“We launched the offensives on junta positions in the two towns on May 15, and seized their positions today,” Salai Htet Ni said on Sunday.
About 70 junta troops from infantry battalions 16 and 269 were deployed in Tonzang and about 30 junta troops from Infantry Battalion 269 were deployed in Cikha.
Resistance forces had seized all of Cikha, but were still clearing junta positions in Tonzang on Sunday. The regime was conducting airstrikes on the town.
“We are clearing all the junta positions in the town, including the police station and a hilltop outpost. Junta aircraft keep coming. So, we can’t say we have driven all junta soldiers out of Tonzang,” Salai Htet Ni said.
Chin fighters seized weapons and ammunition from the defeated junta troops, he said, adding that the number of casualties remained unknown on Sunday.
Chin resistance forces have blockaded roads to Tonzang Township from Tedim and Tamu townships to prevent the regime from sending reinforcements, Salai Htet Ni said.
Fourteen Chin resistance groups including the Chin National Army took part in the fighting. Tonzang is home to around 1,000 households, who are largely ethnic Zomi.
