The devastating cost of fighting Myanmar’s military dictatorship

BBC:

An abandoned Myanmar military camp sits atop a wooded hill, overlooking a picturesque lake which is well known in these parts because of its unique heart-like shape. Landmine canisters and spent bullets litter the ground. Yellow wildflowers have sprouted through piles of corrugated tin sheets strewn about where soldiers’ barracks used to be. Hastily dug trenches line one part of the camp.

Under the overcast sky, a flag flutters in the wind – red, white and blue horizontal stripes with the picture of a hornbill at the centre – the flag of the Chin National Army (CNA), an ethnic armed group fighting against Myanmar’s military junta in the western Chin state.

Seven months ago the CNA, along with local armed civilian groups, pushed Myanmar’s army out of this camp at Rihkhawdar – a border trade town with India – and from other areas in the Chin state. It’s an unprecedented advance for Chin insurgents fighting against Myanmar’s military dictatorship which crushed the country’s fragile democracy in a coup in 2021.

It is the first time that the military has lost control of these areas, and the BBC has had rare access to see these rebel advances in the west of the country.

The win at Rihkhawdar was not straightforward. It came after multiple offensives were launched for more than a year. And for some families it came at an excruciating cost.

Seventeen-year-old Lalnunpuii loved dancing. Her social media feed was full of her imitating trending viral videos.

“She used to sassily dance around all the time. But she was not into dressing up. She used to idolise soldiers and would listen to songs all day that talked about soldiers who dedicated their lives for the country. She was brave and strong, and not scared of anything,” says Lalthantluangi, Lalnunpuii’s mother.

After the coup, the teenager convinced her parents to allow her to join the armed civilian movement in their village Haimual. In a handwritten essay at school, in English, she explained why.

“Myanmar is broken now… The soldier of Burma are enemy for me because they have no mercy… My future is People Defence Force and I like it,” it read.

In August 2022, armed civilians from her village along with other groups launched an attack on Rihkhawdar camp.

“We rained drones on them for 13 days straight. Most of the bombs were made by me as I was the main welder for my unit,” says Lalzidinga, Lalnunpuii’s father. A truck driver before the coup, he became one of the organisers of the People’s Defence Forces in Haimual.

They were unsuccessful in taking the camp during this attempt, but there were casualties on both sides.