(Based on the Burmese posts from the FACEBOOK in June-July, 2021.)
LIB-274 sent many patrols into the town and arrested
any men they found on the streets. The soldiers also raided houses abandoned by
people fearful of the troops and stole cash and other valuables. But they
didn’t dare to wander outside the town as they knew the CDF was waiting for
them. They were expecting army reinforcements coming from Matupi.
But on May-17 the nine-truck army convoy from Matupi was stopped by CDF at about sixteen miles from Mindat. Army camps from Kyauk-Htu then started shelling Maindat with their 105-mm howitzers.
There were many
CDF men killed and wounded from the heavy shellings. Some also suffered strange
affects such as vomiting, difficulties breathing, and skin abrasions from the
gases released form some howitzer shells landed at the ambush site just outside
the town. Apparently Burmese Army has started using their nerve-gas-shells on
the CDF.
Refugees Leaving War-torn Mindat in Droves
Thousands and
thousands of town people were fleeing Mindat for surrounding villages as
artillery shells landed inside the town. Most ended up in the rain-swept
jungles as the May is the beginning of the Monsoon Season in Burma and during
four months (May, June, July, and August) heavy rain would be regularly
falling.
By May-19 the
town was deserted and battles were occurring outside the town and in the
jungles as various army reinforcement columns tried to reach the town on foot.
The army had lost too many China-made trucks to the CDF. But the jungle warfare
in a hilly region is good for the local members of CDF. This is what one CDF
commander boasted of their advantage in facing Burmese soldiers in his homeland.
“They got RPGs, Machine Guns, Automatic Rifles, and
Howitzers. And we have only home-made Tumee muskets. But courage is not equal
as we are braves and they are cowards. Our hunting rifles are effective only
within 100 yards so we really need to get close to them to get a good shot, but
their automatic rifles let them stay away as far as 200 yards from us.
Our guns need at least 5 minutes to reload and then
we can fire only one or two lead balls but their rifles can fire 30 bullets in
a minute. And they also have heavy weapons and use them generously to blow us
up from far distances.
“Most of our deaths are from their heavy weapons.
Only one in ten of our deaths are direct hits from their rifles but the rest
are indirect hits from their heavy weapon shells. Our advantage is our mobility
on the hilly or mountainous terrains. Our feet are so much wider with bigger
toes compared to Burmese feet that we can’t fit into Burmese shoes. And we get
better grip on the slopes and we can run better than the Burmese soldiers.”
Worsening hostile
situations has forced more than 15,000 town people from Mindat to flee and they
are now taking shelter in many displacement camps managed by the local
Christian churches.
Desperate Battles to Wipe Out CDF from Mindat (June 4 to 7)
Three
heavily-armed columns of Myanmar Army battalions inside Mindat staged two
coordinated attacks on CDF at Chaung-zone village and Yet village near Mindat.
In addition to the heavy artillery barrages from the Kyauk-htu Artillery
Battalion and heavy Weapons support from LIB-274 in side Mindat, two Myanmar
Air Force jets bombed the rebels at both sites.
At about 10 am
on June-6 80-strong army column attacked Yet Village while about 90-strong army
column attacked Chaung-zone Village at the east of Mindat town simultaneously.
Another column of about 120 soldiers also was attacking CDF just outside Mindat
since June-3.
Casualties were
high for both sides especially on the CDF as the toll from the Myanmar Army’s
use of artillery and heavy weapons depleting the CDF fighter numbers. Much
weakened CDF finally withdrew from their positions around Mindat and the
civilian populace fled to the safety of IDP camps.
The battles then
shifted onto the Mindat-Matupi Road and Mindat-Kyaukhtuu Road as the CDF tried
to stop the Myanmar Army reinforcements coming from both Matupi and Kyaukhtuu
towns.
Ceasefire Agreements and UNHCR Aid Convoy (July 7 to
17)
Ceasefire
negotiations were started on June-18 between Mindat Town’s Elders and the
Myanmar Army, and temporary ceasefire started soon but only lasted till
July-17. During that short ceasefire period the UNHCR convoy brought in food
and other essential supplies such as tarpaulin sheets, mosquito-nets, blankets,
and kitchen utensils donated by the FAO and other UN agencies.
But Myanmar Army allowed UNHCR to distribute the
supplies to the refugees sheltering only in the camps inside the Mindat Town,
not outside the town in the CDF-controlled Chin villages. There were nearly
10,000 people in the nine camps controlled by the Myanmar Army and the sole camp
set up by the Mindat Baptist Church (MBC).
Later UNHCR’s
plan to distribute the rest of the supplies to more than 15,000 refugees taking
shelter in the villages outside the town were stopped by the Myanmar Army. By
expecting the army will steal the UN supplies meant for the refugees, the UNHCR refused to leave the undistributed goods with the army and took the goods back
to Proper Burma.
Army had also
taken advantage of the lull in the hostilities during the UNHCR visit and
brought in more army battalions to resume the planned annihilation of Mindat
CDF by August.
