At least three Burma Army (BA) soldiers were killed and five wounded in fighting with the Chinland Defence Force (CDF) in Mindat Township on Wednesday, according to the resistance group.

Salai Yaw Mang, spokesperson for the Mindat chapter of CDF, told Khonumthung News the resistance fighters had been waiting in Khwee Rein to ambush the BA soldiers as they passed the Buddhist monastery in the afternoon after clashing with them in Wumthu the previous day.

The spokesperson suspects that two BA columns, with whom CDF had been fighting for the past few days, joined forces in Khwee Rein during the hour-long clash.

On 19 December, the CDF killed one BA soldier in a clash with one of the columns near Shitmwe and another in Wumthu the next day.

“When BA soldiers tried to pick up the body, our troops fired at them and wounded them,” Salai Yaw Mang said.

He suspects there were about 80 soldiers in Wumthu and about 70 more in Le Yon that day.

CDF fighters from Mindat and Yaw PDF claimed to have killed 10 soldiers when they ambushed a column from BA near Leh Hsaw in Magwe Region next to the Chin State border on 13 December.

In April, CDF established local chapters across Chin State to protect demonstrators who peacefully protested against military rule.

CDF began fighting with BA in Mindat Township after the armed forces arrested civilians.

Although the Chin resistance fighters used traditional single-shot hunting rifles, they managed to kill many soldiers, angering the regime and prompting it to crush the uprising in the state.