On December 22, while junta boss Min Aung Hlaing was attending a pre-Christmas event, his regime lost control of Mindat and Kanpetlet towns, which are predominantly inhabited by southern Chin State’s Christian community.
Mindat, Kanpetlet, Matupi and Paletwa are in southern Chin State but Paletwa was commanded from the Western Command based in Ann Township, Rakhine State, while the other three towns fall under the Northwestern Command in the Sagaing Region capital, Monywa.
Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 289 was based in Paletwa. Mindat housed Infantry Battalion 274 and Matupi is home to LIBs 140 and 304. The three battalions are overseen by the Operations Command in Matupi. There was no military base in Kanpetlet.
Matupi and Mindat are connected to Paletwa and when the Arakan Army (AA) attacked Paletwa in 2019 and 2020, Myanmar’s military used those routes to resupply its troops in Rakhine.
When Myanmar’s military was unable to send supplies to Paletwa via Kyauktaw in Rakhine due to attacks on convoys and vessels between Sittwe and Kyauktaw, it airlifted supplies via Matupi. Junta convoys transported a year of food and ammunition from Pakokku in Magwe Region to Matupi. Supplies were later airlifted from Matupi to bases in Paletwa.
Chin State, which was crucial for the defense of Rakhine, was a peaceful highland area until the 2021 coup, as the state, particularly Kanpetlet, Mindat and Matupi in southern Chin, are well connected to Pakokku in Magwe.
Popular tourist spots such as Khonuamthung (Mount Victoria), Bon Talar waterfall in Matupi and colonial-era offices in Mindat used to attract domestic and international visitors.
In 2019, amid the heightened conflict with the AA, the military started operations in this area to intercept arms and ammunition heading to Rakhine from southern Chin State.
The area was under tight military control until the coup.
After the military takeover, southern Chin State, a critical buffer for Rakhine, began resisting the regime in ways that Min Aung Hlaing did not anticipate.
He assumed the Chin National Front (CNF), a signatory to the 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, was too weak to revolt and he prepared to attack CNF bases should the group challenge him.
In March 2021, following public protests against the February coup, the Chin Defence Forces (CDFs) began armed resistance in southern Chin.
Initially, the regime underestimated the CDFs as groups equipped with rudimentary hunting rifles and ordered its Chin State battalions to crush all militants.
The first confrontation took place in late April when the CDFs ambushed a military convoy from Matupi-based LIB 140 heading from Kyaukhtu to Mindat. It was the first recorded ambush since the coup and numerous weapons and ammunition were seized.
Several military vehicles were destroyed and many soldiers fled in disarray.
In response, the junta started using armored vehicles for convoys in Mindat and Matupi and also resorted to airlifting.
However, ambushes and landmine attacks by the CDFs and allied Chin revolutionary groups rendered mountain roads impassable for junta convoys.
Consequently, the junta began airlifting supplies and ammunition to bases using MI-17 helicopters. As the situation worsened, Y-12 aircraft dropped supplies and ammunition by parachute.
Chin revolutionary forces, in collaboration with the AA, then started offensives to capture southern Chin’s towns.
The first to fall was Makui Eain Nu in Mindat Township, which had been upgraded to town status by the National League for Democracy government.
The CDFs captured Makui Eain Nu on July 24, 2021, without firing a shot after junta soldiers and police surrendered at the town’s police station.
Lalengpi, the hometown of National Unity Government minister Dr Sar Sar, fell next on November 24, 2023. The town was crucial for the movement of reinforcements and supplies from central Myanmar to Rakhine.
The fall of Rezua at the junction of Gangaw-Matupi, Gangaw-Lailinpi and Matupi-Haka roads, rendered a serious blow to the regime.
Meanwhile, the AA captured Paletwa Township in southern Chin on January 14, 2024, before seizing Samee town between Paletwa and Matupi two days later. The regime had set up an operational base overseen by the Northwestern Command in Samee town to prevent the AA’s advances into Chin State.
CDFs and their allies captured Kyindwe town on April 29, 2024. Kyindwe is adjacent to Saw town in Magwe Region and northern Rakhine. Two regime weapons factories, KaPaSa 24 and 25, in the area, are now threatened.
The Chin Brotherhood attacked Matupi in the rainy season when the regime could not fully deploy its air force and the town fell by the end of June.
The group then attacked Infantry Battalion 274 in Mindat on November 9 last year. Despite heavy air support, the battalion and the town fell on December 21.
On December 22, as the Chin Brotherhood surrounded Kanpetlet, junta troops fled and the town was occupied without violence. The capture of Kanpetlet marked the fall of the entire southern Chin State, providing bases for the armed groups in Magwe and Sagaing regions.
Resistance groups are expected to soon target Infantry Battalion 368 near Kyaukhtu Airport near Mindat. Min Aung Hlaing’s son Aung Pya Sone has won a contract to upgrade the airport.
KaPaSa factories in Magwe Region are also threatened. Joint operations are expected from strong People’s Defence Forces in Yaw district, which comprises Gangaw, Htilin and Saw townships.
The victories in southern Chin bolster resistance in the north of the state, posing a significant threat to the state capital, Hakha. We will see if the liberation of the entire Chin State will follow.
Swe Taw is a defector from Myanmar’s military.
