There was fighting near Mualpi Village, in Tedim Township, Chin State, at around 10:00 am on 21 May when a junta column moving towards the Chin Hills in Chin State was attacked by Chin resistance forces.
A resident of nearby Khaikam Town in Tedim Township on the border with Sagaing Region, just to the east of where the fighting broke out said: “Around 10:00 am, we began hearing gunfire and the sounds of artillery bombardment. We were told that fighting was happening between junta troops and Chin resistance forces near Mualpi Village.”
A Chin resistance source said to Chin World on 21 May: “Fighting has broken out somewhere between Shukhinthar [viewpoint] and Mualpi Village, though we can't confirm the exact location yet. Reinforcements from nearby resistance forces have arrived, and we'll share the names of the groups involved when the time is right. Right now, the heavy rain is making things quite challenging on the ground, and artillery fire can still be heard now and then.”
The junta military column of about 200 soldiers was travelling in 15 trucks and had departed from Kale Town in Sagaing Region at around 4:00 am on 19 May. After it passed through Khaikam Town, also on 19 May, the junta blocked the road going west at the Khaikam Town police station checkpoint, to prevent any traffic from following the military column along the road to Taingen village in Tedim Township.
In response, Siyin Chinland Defence Force – Civic Defence Militia (CDF-CDM), one of the Chin resistance forces fighting with the junta column, temporarily closed the road ahead of the junta column at Taingen Town in Tedim Township on 20 May. This is the junction where the road from Kale splits into two with the northern branch going to Tedim Town and the southern branch going towards Falam Town in Falam Township. Blocking the road here blocks access to both Tedim and Falam towns from Kale Town.
Most of Chin State’s nine townships are under the control of Chin resistance forces and the Arakan Army (AA). Only the Chin State towns of Hakha and Tedim are still under the control of the junta.
