Myanmar rebels drive away junta forces, capture border point with India

Rebel troops in Myanmar’s Chin state have gained control of a border crossing point across the small, hilly Indian state of Mizoram, two days after they overran the junta’s two military bases near the country’s border with India.

As the crisis subsided, the majority of the approximately 5,000 citizens of Myanmar who had fled to India to avoid the fierce fighting between the insurgents and the Myanmar military since early Monday morning went back to their homes, according to local officials.

The goal of the rebel forces is to seize control of a portion of the porous Indian border.

Following a concerted operation by three ethnic minority factions in late October that resulted in the capture of many towns and military facilities, Myanmar’s generals are facing their worst challenge since taking over in a coup in 2021.

Rebels dubbed the operation “Operation 1027” because that is when it started, and it started off breaking through junta-controlled territories near Shan State’s Chinese border, where military authorities had lost control of over 100 security installations and numerous villages.

Since then, Rakhine and Chin, two new fronts in the western states, have seen action.

While the tranquil valley along the Indo-Myanmar border had mostly returned to normal on Wednesday afternoon, air raid sirens from the Myanmar side could be heard in India’s Zokhawthar village, alerting locals to potential dangers.

At the Zokhawthar border crossing, surrounded by verdant hills, the Chin flag was flown above a gate welcoming guests to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

The two ends of the border bridge over the Tiau River, which allowed civilians to enter freely on Wednesday, were secured by armed insurgents from Myanmar and the paramilitary Assam Rifle in India.

43 troops from Myanmar were among those escaping the rebels’ surprise onslaught and making their way into India on Monday during the attacks at Zokhawthar.

Eventually, the Indian authorities flew the majority of them to another border crossing location several hundred kilometres east and sent them back.

(With agency inputs)