India has deployed members of its security forces to its border with Burma due to intensifying clashes between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army (AA) in Chin State’s Paletwa Township.

Mizoram media has reported that two columns of Indian soldiers left their base camp on February 17 to secure the border with Paletwa, as well as to prevent troops from entering India and to assist displaced people.

They are stationed in southern Mizoram’s Laung Talai.

While refugees have not recently crossed the border at Laung Talai, more than 300 people have fled to Mizoram since early 2018 due to armed conflict between the Burma Army and the AA.

At least eight villages in Paletwa Township have suffered damage from the fighting in recent months, and nearly 1,000 people have been internally displaced to Rakhine State, as well as across the border to Bangladesh.

Paletwa locals told Khonumthung News that they expect the number of people displaced to increase if clashes persist.

“Military helicopters fly in the sky almost every day,” one individual said, describing the current tension.