By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Myanmar’s military has reportedly suffered heavy losses as a major offensive in southern Chin State stalled amid fierce resistance fighting near the border with Magwe Region, according to local sources.
The junta launched the operation roughly two weeks ago from Saw and Kyaukhtu townships in Magwe Region, targeting the resistance-held towns of Kanpetlet and Mindat with support from heavy airstrikes carried out from the Kyaukhtu airbase.
Local resistance sources claimed that regime troops advancing toward Kanpetlet, around 12 kilometres from Saw, were forced to retreat after sustaining significant casualties.
“Around 400 troops were deployed to the Kanpetlet front, but they fell back after suffering heavy heavy losses,” according to a source close to the resistance.
The source added that the military is expected to reinforce its frontline units before attempting another assault.
On the Mindat front, junta troops were reportedly fortifying positions in Kangyi village, a strategic junction along the Kyaukhtu-Mindat road that was recently recaptured from resistance groups.
Local sources said nearly 300 junta troops and a military vehicle column had moved from Kangyi toward Saw town, apparently to reinforce military positions in the area.
The military has significantly increased troop deployments along the border corridor since early May.
According to local reports, the junta on Tuesday reinforced Artillery Battalion No. 368 in Kyaukhtu with around 1,500 troops from the KaPaSA No. 24 weapons factory in Pauk township of Magwe Region.
The following day, at least 56 wounded soldiers were reportedly evacuated from the base by Y-12 transport aircraft.
A separate military column also advanced toward Saw town from the KaPaSA 25 facility in Laungshey.
Local sources accused the advancing troops of carrying out abuses against civilians along the Pauk-Kyaukhtu road.
According to resistance-linked sources, six civilians, including a Buddhist monk and a mentally ill woman, were killed during the military advance. Five of the victims were reportedly killed in Dabyin village, while another civilian was killed in Ywarthar village, which was later burned down by junta troops.
The ground offensive followed intensified airstrikes targeting resistance-held towns including Mindat, Matupi and Kanpetlet.
Around 30 bombs were dropped on Matupi alone on Tuesday, sources claimed.
According to research group Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica, junta airstrikes in Chin State killed 11 civilians and injured 10 others between May 1 and May 21.
The fighting has also triggered fresh displacement across the region.
Local sources estimated that around 10,000 people have fled their homes in Kyaukhtu and Saw townships, seeking shelter in nearby towns and forest areas.
Residents displaced from Mindat said routes to neighbouring Pakokku District were increasingly inaccessible as the military tightened restrictions on the movement of food and medicines from major towns.
The latest offensive comes after the junta recaptured Falam and Tonzang in northern Chin State from resistance forces on April 25 and May 19 respectively.
At present, the Chin Brotherhood and allied resistance groups control the southern Chin towns of Kyindwe, Matupi, Mindat and Kanpetlet, while the Arakan Army controls Paletwa near the border with Rakhine State.
Southern Chin State remains strategically significant as a gateway to Rakhine State, where the Arakan Army controls 14 of the state’s 17 townships.