Myanmar Spring Chronicle – March 30 Scenes
MoeMaKa, March 31 2023
A village near Thantlang was bombarded, killing at least 8 civilians
On the morning of March 30, Chin news agencies reported that the military council’s fighter jets bombarded houses in Khuafo Village near Thantlang in Chin State, killing at least 8 civilians.
Among the deceased, a child and women were also included. According to photos reported by Chin news media, a teenage girl was also among the dead. Khuafo Village is a village with about 70 houses, located on the mountain and about 5 miles away from Thantlang. It is said that there is no reason to designate the village as a military target. Locals also said that it is not a village where the Chinland Defense Forces (CDF) or the Chin National Front (CNF) are based, so they couldn’t imagine why the military council’s fighter jets bombarded the village.
The Chin National Front (CNF), an armed group that has been established for decades, is based near the Indian border in Thantlang Township and the military council had bombarded it once in the previous months. A village in Thantlang Township, Chin State was bombarded within a few days after military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned in the speech of Tatmadaw Day on March 27, that the military council would decisively deal with the PDFs and the ethnic armed groups supporting them.
In Chin State, the CNF armed group is not able to dominate and control the entire state, and local defense armed forces have emerged in the past 2 years. Among them, the People’s Defense Force – Mindat came out the earliest and was able to attack and prevent the military council forces quite a bit.
In terms of geography, Chin State’s mountains are generally high, ranging from more than 4,000 feet to more than 6,000 feet, and rely mainly on roads. It is also an area where food products and transportation are done mainly by roads, and the military council convoy can be seen from afar and easily intercepted when transporting troops, weapons, and food from one place to another in Chin State as there is only one main road. After the coup, there have been instances of junta convoys marching distances of 60 to 100 miles for weeks or months to control territory and attack PDF forces. During the march, local people’s defense forces frequently intercepted and attacked. The military council often responded by firing on villages with heavy weapons and burning down houses next to the highway. Villages between Hakha and Falam, and villages between Kalay and Tedim were also burned down by the junta troops.
After the recent declaration of martial law in 7 townships in Chin State, the military council has been deploying more convoys to the cities of Hakha, which is the capital of Chin State, Mindat, and Matupi for almost a year.
When we think about the purpose of aerial bombardment of villages inhabited by civilians like this, we can only think of an answer that is aimed at punishing the civilians instead of the armed groups by randomly concluding that the civilians and the villages in those regions are supporting the armed groups such as CNF and CDF.
It seems that it is only an act of attacking civilians as hostages.
(Photo – Houses damaged by bombs in a village called Khuafo near Thantlang, Chin State)