A proposed 90-day extension of martial law by the Myanmar military junta will have no practical impact on the ground in Chin State, where heavy fighting and daily airstrikes are already normalized, resistance leaders reported.
The military junta initially imposed martial law across 60 townships nationwide on April 23, 2026.
With the initial 90-day term set to expire on July 21, the junta’s Ministry of Legal Affairs submitted a proposal to its installed parliament on July 14 to extend the decree for another 90 days, claiming a need to restore administrative order and the rule of law.
Chin resistance leaders dismissed the political maneuver as irrelevant to their operations.
Out of the nine townships in Chin State, seven were placed under the original decree. The new extension is set to maintain martial law in five townships—Mindat, Kanpetlet, Matupi, Paletwa, and Thantlang—while excluding Falam and Tonzang, which the junta claims to have recaptured.
“Our revolution does not depend on whether martial law is imposed,” Salai Thang Chun Phe, Chairman of the Chin Public Union/Chin Public Army (CPU/CPA), told Mizzima. “As long as injustice exists, the revolution will continue. This declaration changes nothing; it is simply business as usual for the regime.”
Salai Thang Chun Phe added that rather than establishing order, junta-controlled areas have seen a sharp rise in theft, looting, drug abuse, and gambling, accusing regime forces of colluding with criminal elements.
Other revolutionary figures echoed the sentiment, noting that the presence or absence of a legal declaration has never dictated the military's use of force.
Mindat and Kanpetlet townships currently face near-daily airstrikes and ground offensives, while intense urban combat continues in Thantlang.
Even in townships with no active ground clashes—such as the resistance-controlled strongholds of Matupi and Paletwa, and the state capital of Hakha—junta aircraft continue to carry out regular bombings.
The junta's broader proposal seeks to extend martial law across 58 townships nationwide, encompassing key conflict zones in Shan, Rakhine, Sagaing, Magway, Kachin, Karenni, Karen, and Mandalay regions. The junta-backed parliament is scheduled to reconvene on July 21 to pass the extension formally.
