39 Myanmar soldiers who entered Mizoram sent back

Indian defence forces sent back 39 Myanmar soldiers who had taken refuge in Mizoram after their camp was overrun by pro-democracy forces. Two choppers evacuated them to Moreh in Manipur, near the Myanmar border. Reports of two more soldiers crossing over were also received. The soldiers were sent back to their country. Civil war has been raging in Myanmar since Feb 2021. 35,000 Chin refugees have been hosted in Mizoram since then.

GUWAHATI

Indian defence authorities on November 14 sent back 39 soldiers of the Myanmar military who had taken refuge in Mizoram after their camp was overrun by ethnic armed groups aligned with the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar.

Two choppers belonging to the armed forces carried out two sorties each to evacuate the soldiers from Champhai, the headquarters of Mizoram’s Champhai district bordering Myanmar, to Moreh in Manipur. Moreh is on the border with Myanmar’s Sagaing region.

“The entire operation from evacuating the Myanmar soldiers to Moreh and sending them across towards Tamu (nearest Myanmar town from Moreh) was over by 3 p.m.,” an Army officer monitoring the exercise said.

He said there were reports of at least two more Myanmar soldiers having crossed over in the last 24 hours. They would be sent back to their country as and when they are located, he added.

A civil war has been raging in Myanmar following a military coup in February 2021. The fighting between the country’s Army and pro-democracy groups, including ethnicity-based extremist groups, intensified close to the Mizoram border a few days ago.

Indian security officials keeping tabs on the Myanmar situation said a fierce gunfight erupted at Khawmawi in Myanmar, situated across Zokhawthar in Mizoram’s Champhai district on Sunday evening. The fighting saw about 1,500 Myanmar nationals taking refuge in border areas of Mizoram.