Myanmar rebels, battling junta, seek to control border with India
- Rebels battled the Myanmar military to overrun two camps next to India’s Mizoram state, while fighting also broke out in Chin and Rakhine states
- Chin rebels will now look to consolidate their control along the India-Myanmar border, where the Myanmar military has two more camps
Anti-junta fighters in Myanmar’s Chin state are trying to gain control of part of the porous border with India, after taking over two military outposts on the mountainous frontier, a rebel commander said, part of a wider offensive against the junta.
Dozens of rebels battled the Myanmar military from dawn to dusk on Monday to overrun two camps next to India’s Mizoram state, Chin National Front (CNF) Vice-Chairman Sui Khar said.
Spokespersons for Myanmar’s military and India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Myanmar’s generals are facing their biggest test since taking power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts.
The military-appointed president last week said Myanmar was at risk of breaking apart because of an ineffective response to the rebellion – the most significant fight back since the 2021 coup deposed the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The generals say they are fighting “terrorists”.
The offensive, named by rebels as “Operation 1027” after the date it began, initially made inroads in junta-controlled areas on the border with China in Shan State, where military authorities have lost control of several towns and more than 100 security outposts.
