Guwahati: Myanmar junta fighter jets struck a facility in Hakha Township of Chin State where the Chinland Defense Force-Hakha (CDF-Hakha) was holding detained military personnel, killing at least 10 people and injuring five others, according to the resistance group.
The CDF-Hakha said the attack occurred between 8.20 pm and 9 pm on October 28, when five fighter jets dropped 250-pound bombs and fired rockets at the facility.
The group added that security personnel guarding the site escaped without injuries. However, the reported casualty figures could not be independently verified, and the Myanmar military junta has not issued any statement on the incident.
CDF-Hakha chairman Salai Hram Lian said he believed the strike, along with another air attack near Zokhua village on October 30, was intended to weaken resistance forces ahead of a possible military advance towards Thantlang.
The second airstrike reportedly took place around 1.30 am near Zokhua village, targeting a former CDF-Hakha outpost. According to Salai Hram Lian, resistance forces had vacated the position three months earlier to safeguard the village. No casualties were reported in the attack.
He also said government employees who had not joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) were gathering at the General Administration Office in Hakha before travelling to Thantlang.
The CDF-Hakha chairman suspected that the military had received information about the detention facility from detainees who had recently been released or had escaped. However, he clarified that this was his personal assessment.
Meanwhile, displaced residents of Thantlang currently living in Hakha established a committee on October 11 to coordinate efforts towards rebuilding their hometown.
The committee has appealed to the public to understand its decision to engage with the military administration, stating that the move was intended to help civilians return to their homes.
Control of Thantlang remains disputed. The Myanmar military reportedly recaptured the town in June, although subsequent accounts suggested that junta forces controlled only about half of the area.
The military had adopted a similar approach in Falam, which it recaptured on April 25. Around 100 government employees who had not joined the Civil Disobedience Movement were subsequently sent from Kalay to the town on May 6.