More Myanmar Soldiers Enter Mizoram Amid Conflict With Armed Ethnic Group

More army personnel have crossed the border into Mizoram in the past two days as fighting continues between rebel forces in Myanmar and the junta-regime. 276 Myanmar soldiers, with their arms and ammunition, reached Bandukbanga village on the Mizoram-Myanmar-Bangladesh border trijunction on Wednesday afternoon, sources said.

They took refuge in India after their camps were captured by the Arakan Army (AA) militants – an ethnic armed group in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine – the sources said, adding, that they would be repatriated at the earliest.

The soldiers have been sheltered in an Assam Rifles camp, they said.

This comes days after the Arakan Army claimed control of a town bordering India and Bangladesh, marking the latest loss for the military government as it battles rebellion in several parts of the country.

With the latest influx, the number of soldiers who fled Myanmar since November 13 and reached India, has touched 636.

Authorities have been sending back Myanmar troops within days of them crossing over.

Earlier, Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters airlifted the soldiers to Moreh in Manipur and handed them over to the Myanmar Army authority.

On January 2 and 9, a large number of Myanmarese soldiers were flown back home on a Myanmar military aircraft that came to Lengpui airport in Aizawl to take back the soldiers.

Myanmar’s generals are facing their biggest test since they seized power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts and forcing soldiers to flee.