It is unclear if any junta soldiers were killed in the clash.
A coalition of resistance fighters from the Chin National Army (CNA) and the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) launched an attack on Thursday against a military unit that had been burning down homes in the north of the state.
It is unclear if anyone was killed or injured in the fighting but the resistance fighters say they suffered no casualties.
Junta soldiers stationed along the road connecting the towns of Falam and Hakha burned down every one of the roughly 10 houses in the village of Rialti, as well as a church, on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, CNDF spokesperson Salai William told Myanmar Now.
“They torched seven houses in Rialti last night… and then torched the remaining houses this morning,” he said on Thursday. “Even the church was not spared. They also torched six houses in a village called Talanrawn, which was a mile away from Rialti.”
Both villages are about 10 miles from Falam and have just a few dozen residents.
Salai Htet Ni, a spokesperson for the CNF, told Myanmar Now the junta soldiers also fired shells.
“The military units heading towards Hakha from Falam were stationed there and they started torching houses and firing shells. Our troops went there in cars today and intercepted them,” he said on Thursday.
“The clash lasted around 30 minutes. They also started firing shells from Falam township. There were no casualties on our side but I haven’t heard anything about their side.”
Salai Willian said soldiers from the junta’s 268th Infantry Battalion in Falam fired three rounds of 122mm shells towards the area of the clash at around 11am on Thursday.
The military has been sending reinforcements to Chin since the beginning of October, with resistance forces launching frequent ambushes in response.
On Wednesday the coalition of Chin groups said it killed five junta soldiers when it attacked a separate military column travelling from Hakha in the direction of Falam.
On the same day, a convoy of two armoured vehicles and over 80 military trucks arrived in Mindat from Pakokku in Magway Region, while over 40 trucks and hundreds of soldiers were seen heading from Kalay in Sagaing Region towards Falam on Tuesday.
On Monday soldiers raided the village of Tiphir, on the road between Kalay and Falam, forcing residents to flee into surrounding forests. Two days later two villagers were found dead with bullet wounds, a villager there said. Locals are convinced junta soldiers killed them.
The victims were Thawng Lun Mang, a 29-year-old father of two, and Salai Salai Thawng Nei Mawi, aged 34. Their funerals were held on Wednesday.
The junta has sent thousands of troops to Chin, Sagaing and Magway in preparation for what many fear will be massive offensives against resistance fighters. Every township in Chin except Hakha has been under a junta-imposed internet blackout since September 23.
source myanmar-now