People displaced by fighting from Mindat Township in Chin State are in urgent need of emergency assistance, including basic food supplies.
The Chin Brotherhood Alliance (CBA), led by one of its members, the locally based Mindat Chinland Defence Force (CDF), has been attacking junta positions in Mindat Town since 9 November 2024 when it launched its offensive against the town as part of its Operation Chin Brotherhood.
Ko Lawrence, a spokesperson for the Mindat Township Internally Displaced People (IDP) Management Committee, a local relief organisation that is assisting the IDPs who have fled Mindat Town said: “Currently, the number of people fleeing Mindat Town is increasing daily. Some initially chose to stay as long as possible, seeking refuge in terrace farming areas not far from the town. They wanted to remain close to Mindat and stubbornly refused any offers of evacuation assistance. They only left when the fighting intensified.”
In January 2024 there were approximately 10,000 IDPs sheltering in Mindat Township. But, since the beginning of November that number has increased by 6,000 as people fled from Mindat Town during the preparations for the CBA offensive on the town and since the offensive started.
Before the CBA launched its offensive on Mindat Town it tried to encircle the town. The junta responded with airstrikes and junta soldiers set fire to houses in the town, which forced many residents of Mindat Town and the surrounding villages to flee to safer areas of Mindat Township.
When the CBA actually launched its assault on junta positions in Mindat Town on 9 November, many more of the town’s residents fled.
Some of those attempting to flee were trapped in Mindat Town as fighting in the town escalated, according to Ko Yaw Man, spokesperson for the CBA and the Mindat People's Administration Team (Mindat-PAT), a revolutionary township administration that functions as the administration for the majority of Mindat Township already controlled by the CBA.
He said: “There were instances where we had to risk our lives to rescue trapped locals. We carried out the rescues under heavy gunfire and brought them to safety. We also arranged food for them. The total number of people we rescued will be announced later by the CBA.”
Those who fled the town were unable to bring any possessions and they escaped with just the clothes on their backs. Because of this they have a wide range of needs, including cookware, blankets, beds, and basic food items, said Ko Lawrence.
He also said that the Mindat Township IDP Management Committee is struggling to properly assist the IDPs due to having limited funds.
As fighting has intensified in Mindat Town and the surrounding areas prices for medicine and food in Mindat Township have soared.
Currently, some of the IDPs sheltering in Mindat Township are having to live in cramped conditions with two families having to share 10 feet by 10 feet sheds on farms.
