Nearly all the residents who fled to India from Rihkhawdar Town in Chin State’s Falam Township when two Chin resistance forces started fighting each other have now returned home.

A territorial dispute between two factions of Chin resistance forces the Hualngoram Chinland Defence Force (CDF) and the Chin National Organisation/Chin National Defence Force (CNO/CNDF) erupted into fighting in Rihkhawdar Town on the border with India, on 2 July 2025.

The fighting caused about 3,000 residents of Rihkhawdar Town to flee and seek safety across the border in India’s Mizoram State.

Hualngoram CDF and its allies first took control of Rihkhawdar Town from the junta on 13 November 2023. But, after fighting between Hualngoram CDF and the CNO/CNDF broke out in Rihkhawdar Town on 2 July the CNO/CNDF took control of the town on 5 July and held it until the morning of 11 July, when its soldiers retreated and Hualngoram CDF took back control of the town. Since then, the fighting has eased and the situation has stabilised.

Talking of the situation in Rihkhawdar Town an officer from Hualngoram CDF said: “We managed to effectively push back the Chin National Organisation and Chin National Defense Force [CNO/CNDF] troops, so they fully retreated on the night of 10 July. Starting from 11 July, the displaced residents of Rihkhawdar have been returning to the town. Things are getting back to normal as education, healthcare, and administration have resumed. We're also working on reconstruction and providing support to those affected by the fighting. Hualngoram CDF will keep doing our best to make sure our people can live peacefully.”

Tensions between Hualngoram CDF and the CNO/CNDF had been rising in the Hualngoram area of Falam Township since the beginning of June 2025 when CNDF forces moved into the Hualngoram area and set up about three checkpoints there.

Hualngoram CDF declared a state of emergency in the Hualngoram area on 16 June 2025 because it claimed that it had received complaints about the way the CNDF was treating people at its checkpoint in Khawthlir Village.

Fighting between the two factions also broke out in three villages in the Hualngoram area on 2 July 2025.

Hualngoram CDF is affiliated to the Chinland Council which is supported by the Chin National Front (CNF) and its armed wing, the Chin National Army (CNA). The CNO/CNDF is allied to the the Chin Brotherhood and the Interim Chin National Consultative Council (ICNCC), which effectively acts as the Chin Brotherhood’s political wing.