{"id":348060,"date":"2021-10-14T01:09:29","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T01:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/myanmar\/offensive-10132021191855.html"},"modified":"2021-10-14T01:09:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T01:09:29","slug":"myanmar-military-preparing-major-offensive-against-chin-state-rebel-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/10\/14\/myanmar-military-preparing-major-offensive-against-chin-state-rebel-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar Military Preparing Major Offensive Against Chin State Rebel Group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
Myanmar\u2019s military is preparing a major offensive against the Chin National Front (CNF) in Chin state, a representative of the ethnic armed organization (EAO) said Wednesday, prompting a local rights group to warn that such an operation would have a \u201cdevastating effect\u201d on the region.<\/p>\n
Details of the military plan, which is believed to target CNF headquarters in Chin\u2019s Thantlang township, were revealed amid reports of fresh clashes between junta troops and the Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in northern Shan state that critically injured six civilians\u2014including a toddler and a pregnant woman\u2014and forced hundreds to flee for safety.<\/p>\n
Speaking to RFA\u2019s Myanmar Service, CNF spokesman Salai Htet Ni said the junta is sending tanks and reinforcements in several convoys to Thantlang, where an attack helicopter was seen in the sky on Tuesday, confirming information about the operation that the EAO obtained from military defectors.<\/p>\n
He said the offensive had likely been planned in response to the CNF\u2019s support for the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), which on Sept. 7 declared a nationwide state of emergency and called for open rebellion against junta rule, prompting an escalation of attacks on military targets by various allied pro-democracy People\u2019s Defense Force (PDF) militias and EAOs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe CNF is, in fact, the first ethnic armed group to reach an agreement with NUG,\u201d Salai Htet Ni said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that NUG and its political ideology are in line with ours, the military is putting pressure on us more than ever, both militarily and politically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Myanmar\u2019s military overthrew the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government on Feb. 1, claiming the party had stolen the country\u2019s November 2020 ballot through voter fraud.<\/p>\n
The junta has yet to provide evidence of its claims and has violently repressed anti-coup protests, killing at least 1,170 people and arresting 7,240 others, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).<\/p>\n
Salai Htet Ni noted that Dr. Salai Lian Hmung Sakhong, a leader of the CNF, also\u00a0serves as the NUG\u00a0Federal Union Affairs Minister and that the CNF has provided military training to both the local branch of the PDF and the Chin Defense Force (CDF), an armed group formed to combat Myanmar\u2019s military in the western state.<\/p>\n
According to the spokesman, the CNF obtained a copy of secret plans for the attack on Thantlang as well as extensive details concerning other operations in Chin state from a sergeant clerk named Tin Lian Biak and a driver from the military\u2019s Hakha Tactical Command\u2014both of whom had defected and joined the country\u2019s anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n
Joint forces targeted<\/strong><\/p>\n Salai Htet Ni said he believes that the military is preparing to launch a full-scale offensive against all three of the armed groups because they had joined forces.<\/p>\n On Sept. 11, the CNF and the CDF seized a military base in Thantlang\u2019s Longle village, near Myanmar\u2019s border with India. According to the CNF, 12 junta soldiers were killed, while only six CNF and CDF fighters were wounded in the raid.<\/p>\n Days later, on Sept. 18, clashes between the junta and CNF\/CDF joint forces forced nearly 10,000 people to flee Thantlang. According to residents, several homes in the township were burnt to the ground, while a number of civilians were injured and a local pastor was shot dead during the fighting.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the military and the CNF clashed Wednesday near Falam township, the spokesman said, although details of the fighting were not immediately available.<\/p>\n Salai Za Op Lin, deputy executive director of the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), said that the information provided by Tin Lian Biak suggests that the residents of Chin state are at grave risk of danger.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sergeant who defected to the CDM movement brought a lot of documents with him, including secret information about how they would launch the attacks and what weapons they would use,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks likely that they are preparing a major military operation focused on Chin state.\u201d<\/p>\n Salai Za Op Lin did not provide any details about the documents Tin Lian Biak delivered to the CNF but said that five members of the man\u2019s family\u2014including his mother\u2014were arrested by the military on Monday in connection with his case.<\/p>\n Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun had yet to comment on reports of troop reinforcements and the intelligence documents obtained by the CNF as of Wednesday.<\/p>\n