The Chin Brotherhood Alliance (CBA) claims to have captured 12 junta bases and 168 junta personnel during offensives against the junta in Mindat and Falam towns in Chin State.
The CBA, an alliance of Chin revolutionary forces, launched its offensives against Mindat and Falam Towns on 9 November 2024. They successfully took full control of Mindat Town on 21 December, but fighting is still ongoing in Falam Town.
Ko Yaw Man, A CBA spokesperson said: “We had been preparing for months to achieve military victories. We encircled Mindat Town and took up positions well before the offensive began. During that time, we also infiltrated and conducted reconnaissance in the town. Once the battle started, our comrades fought bravely.
“The junta had also been carefully preparing its defences during those months, digging trenches and building numerous bunkers. They fortified their positions with weapons, ammunition and supplies delivered by airlift. That’s why the clashes were so fierce, but we managed to capture enemy positions one by one.”
On 15 December, 123 junta soldiers, police officers and their families left the compound where the Mindat District and Mindat Township police stations are located in Mindat Town and surrendered to the CBA.
Fighting at the police station compound then continued until 21 December when the CBA finally took control of Mindat Town by capturing the last two junta-held bases in Mindat Town, the police station compound and the the Infantry Battalion (IB) 274 base.
Previously during the offensive against Falam Town, on 12 November, three days after the offensive began, 45 junta soldiers and police officers also surrendered to the CBA with their weapons.
Talking of all the prisoners captured during the CBA offensives on Mindat and Falam towns, Ko Yaw Man, a spokesperson for the CBA said: “We have relocated all prisoners of war (POWs) who surrendered to a secure location away from the conflict zones. They are all safe.”
During the fighting for Mindat and Falam towns there have been heavy junta airstrikes dropping cluster munitions, incendiary bombs and 500-pound bombs.
For its offensives against Mindat and Falam towns the CBA has been supported by the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA) the Generation Z Army (GZA), both Bamar resistance groups from neighbouring Sagaing Region. They have also been joined by resistance fighters from Yaw Township, Magway Region.
The CBA is a coalition of six resistance forces: the Chin National Organisation/Chin National Defence Force (CNO/CNDF), the Mindat Chinland Defence Force (CDF), Kanpetlet CDF, Matupi CDF Battalion 1, the Maraland Defence Force (MDF), and the Zomi Federal Union/Zoland People's Defence Force – Zoland (ZFU/Zoland PDF).
