Battle of Thantlang | |||||||
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Part of the Chin theater of the Myanmar civil war (2021–present) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Chin National Army Chinland Defense Force | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Saw Ye Hmue Aung Hein Myat Soe [1] | Unknown | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
1,500+ [3] |
The Battle of Thantlang is a series of battles fought over the control of Thantlang town in Chin State, Myanmar between junta forces and local Chin rebels in 2021. The battle has left the town largely destroyed. [4] In 2023, there continue to be clashes in Thantlang as the junta attempts to regain control of the township. [5]
Following the February 2021 military coup d'état, Thantlang saw several anti-coup protests. As the junta cracked down on the peaceful demonstrations, many residents took up arms and Chinland armed groups started to organise resistance. Military forces killed civilians with gunfire and artillery strikes and additionally set fire to the town several times burning over a thousand buildings. By September 2021, they started gaining ground in the township. [4]
On 19 September 2021 clashes broke out in Thantlang when Chin National Army (CNA) and CDF-Thantlang launched attack on a junta base reportedly killing around 30 soldiers. In response junta forces killed a Christian leader who tried to put out a fire. A month later they returned and burned down two churches and at least 164 homes. [6] [7]
By late November 2021 Chin forces captured 51 out of the 88 villages in the Thantlang Township. [4]
On 9 June 2022 military forces burned down the decades-old Thantlang Baptist Church. [6] On 1 February 2023 Chin forces captured two soldiers and four police officers with their weapons. At this rebel forces claimed to control around two-thirds of Thantlang. [8]
The battle also lead to the exodus of thousands of residents as early as September 2021. [9] Over 10,000 Thantlang residents fled the town, seeking refuge in the countryside and the neighbouring Indian state of Mizoram. [10] By November 2022, much of Thantlang had been burned down. [4]
On 8 February 2023, joint CNA/CNDF forces attacked the Thantlang police station. The rebels successfully took control of the station by 2 a.m., claiming to have killed four officers. The forces lost one fighter and one fighter was injured. Additionally, they claimed to have captured 40 rifles as well as grenades, ammunition and an anti-drone weapon. [11] Following this attack, the Tatmadaw remained in control of only Tat Kone hill near the town, where Light Infantry Battalion 269 was stationed. [2]
On 26 May 2023, around 150 junta soldiers left Hakha to recapture Thantlang. They encountered Chin forces and the subsequent battle killed 27 junta soldiers while the rebels suffered 12 fatalities and 10 injuries. [5] On 30 March 2023 junta forces bombed Khuabung village near Thantlang killing eight residents and injuring 20. [6]
On 14 June, local media reported that junta forces had recaptured rebel camp in Lungkhar. One column of soldiers was reportedly in Thantlang while another was approaching it. [12] During the attack, three rebel fighters were killed. On 16 June clashes again erupted in Thee Mit Valley with reportedly more than 50 soldiers were killed and 20 wounded and 12 Chin fighters killed and other 12 injured. [13]
Banking on the principle of universal jurisdiction, legal case was filed against ten officials of the Myanmar junta over alleged war crimes committed in Thantlang in the legal system of the Philippines. [14] The Myanmar Accountability Project and the Chin Human Rights Organization were behind the filing of the case. [15]
Chin State is a state in western Myanmar. Chin State is bordered by Sagaing Division and Magway Division to the east, Rakhine State to the south, the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the west, and the Indian states of Mizoram to the west and Manipur to the north. The population of Chin State is about 488,801 according to the 2014 census, and its capital city is Hakha.
Chinland, officially the State of Chinland, is a self-governing polity in Southeast Asia. Its claimed territory encompasses Myanmar's Chin State. It controls nearly all of the Chin State in western Myanmar, along the borders with Bangladesh and India.
Thantlang is a town and the administrative center of Thantlang Township in Chin State, western Myanmar.
Tedim Township is in Tedim District, Chin State of Myanmar (Burma). The administrative centre for the township is the town of Tedim. Tedim Township is the most populous township in Chin State, with a population of 87,623.
The Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) is an armed Zomi nationalist militant group formed in 1997, following an increase in ethnic tensions between the Kuki people and the Paites tribe in Churachandpur district of Manipur, India. Its parent organisation, the Zomi Re-unification Organisation, was founded in April 1993.
The Arakan Army, officially the Arakha Army is an ethnic armed organisation based in Rakhine State (Arakan). Founded on 10 April 2009, the AA is the military wing of the United League of Arakan (ULA). It is currently led by Commander-in-Chief Major General Twan Mrat Naing and vice deputy commander-in-chief Brigadier General Nyo Twan Awng. The Arakan Army states that the objective of its armed revolution is to restore the sovereignty of the Arakan people. In a February 2024 interview, Twan Mrat Naing claimed that the AA had grown to at least 38,000 troops. Anthony Davis, an expert of military and security, rejected this claim and estimated that it has at least 15,000 troops in Chin State and Rakhine State, in addition to around 1500 in Kachin State and Shan State. In the early 2010s, the Arakan Army fought alongside the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) against the Tatmadaw in the Kachin conflict. Following the 2016 outbreak of conflict in Rakhine state, AA became more heavily involved in the Arakan region. In 2019, AA launched attacks on state security forces and the Myanmar Army responded, heightening clashes. The AA reached a ceasefire in late 2020 after eroding the central government's control in northern Rakhine. The power vacuum was filled by the AA over the next 18 months with state-building efforts, like their COVID-19 vaccine rollouts.
2021 (MMXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2021st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 21st year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2020s decade.
The People's Defence Force is the armed wing of the National Unity Government in Myanmar. The armed wing was formed by the NUG from youths and pro-democracy activists on 5 May 2021 in response to the coup d'état that occurred on 1 February 2021 that put the military junta and their armed wing the Tatmadaw in power. The military junta designated it as a terrorist organisation on 8 May 2021. In October 2021, NUG's Ministry of Defence announced that it had formed a central committee to coordinate military operations across the country.
The Myanmar civil war, also called the Burmese Spring Revolution, Burmese civil war or People's Defensive War, is an ongoing civil war following Myanmar's long-running insurgencies, which escalated significantly in response to the 2021 military coup d'état and the subsequent violent crackdown on anti-coup protests. The exiled National Unity Government and major ethnic armed organisations repudiated the 2008 Constitution and called instead for a democratic federal state. Besides engaging this rebel alliance, the junta also contends with other anti-junta forces in areas under its control. Hannah Beech of The New York Times observed the insurgents are apportioned into hundreds of armed groups scattered across the country.
The Chinland Defense Force is a rebel group in Myanmar. It was formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état to protect Chin State from the military junta. The CDF claims that they do not attack the military without cause and that they always issue a warning, such as releasing detainees and refraining from using violence against civilians. If the military does not respond, guerrilla or other action follows. They promise to return their weapons and disband if the revolution is successful. CDFs are members of CJDC. Chinland Joint Defense Committee (CJDC) is formed to serve Chin people's security services and protect an enemy from the illegal Myanmar Army. The total strength of active personnel under the command of CJDC is approximated to be around 15,000. From August to October 2021, it was reported that at least 40 clashes occurred between junta troops and CDF in various townships. CJDC claimed that at least 1,029 Tatmadaw soldiers were killed in the clashes and lost 58 of their own in 2021.
Events in the year 2022 in Myanmar.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), following the 2021 military coup d'état and protests. It was also a renewed intensity in existing internal conflict in Myanmar.
This is the list of important events happened in Myanmar in 2023.
The Battle of Mindat was the first large-scale military engagement of the current Myanmar civil war between civilians and the State Administration Council. It took place in and around Mindat, Chin State, in northwestern Myanmar in April and May of 2021. The battle was reflected a growing trend of armed resistance in the lead-up to the formal declaration of war on 5 May by the National Unity Government of Myanmar. Mindat and Mindat Township continued to be a conflict-hit area and the battle was one of many clashes in Chin State since then.
The Chin theater is one of the theaters of the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), with resistance forces fighting against the Tatmadaw military junta in Chin State, western Myanmar.
The Dry Zone theater, also known as the Anyar theater, is one of the theaters of the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), taking place in Myanmar's Dry Zone region which encompasses the Bamar-majority Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions. It has been described as the "prime center" of resistance against the junta.
On 13 November 2023, the Arakan Army (AA), one of the dozens of ethnic resistance groups active in the civil war in Myanmar, launched a military offensive against Myanmar's military junta in Rakhine and southern Chin State. Fighting began concurrently with the launch of Operation 1027, which the Arakan Army, as a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, also participated in. The offensive broke an informal ceasefire between the Arakan Army and the junta that had been in place for a year. During the offensive, the Arakan Army would capture several towns in northern Rakhine including Mrauk U, the capital of Mrauk-U District and the historical capital of Arakan. They would then focus on attacking Sittwe, the state capital, and Ann, the headquarters of the junta's western command. International Institute for Strategic Studies reported AA’s sweeping gains "are already enough to enable self-rule over a large portion of the Rakhine homeland and to reshape the wider balance of power in Myanmar."
The ongoing Myanmar civil war has had a spillover into other countries, especially India and Bangladesh.
The Siege of Ti Bwar/Tibual was a year-long military operation during the ongoing conflict in Myanmar by Chinland forces against a junta outpost at Ti Bwar, Falam Township, Chin State.
The Chin Brotherhood Alliance (CBA) is a military and political alliance between several ethnic armed organisations active in Chin State, Myanmar. Formed on 30 December 2023 during the Myanmar civil war, the claimed goal of the alliance is to foster collaboration concerning affairs in Chin State and in the Chin ethnic community. The alliance was created by local Chin people's defence forces who believed that the establishment of the Chinland Constitution, the Chinland Council, and the State of Chinland "did not adhere to democratic standards, lacked equality, and failed to represent and reflect the unity of the entire Chin ethnic group."