Nearly all of the reported 4,000 residents of Rihkhawdar in Falam Township, 41 miles (65 km) north of the Chinland capital Hakha, have returned to their homes after two Chin resistance groups fought over control of the Myanmar-India border town, which caused them to flee their homes to seek refuge in Mizoram State earlier this month.
The Chinland Defence Force-Hualngoram (CDF) and the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) – from rival factions of the Chin resistance – began fighting in Rihkhawdar town on July 2.
This caused nearly 4,000 Rihkhawdar residents to flee across the border into India to seek safety from its own resistance forces, which are meant to protect the local population from attacks carried out by the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 military coup.
The CDF-Hualngoram, which is allied to the Chin National Army (CNA), first took control of Rihkhawdar on Nov. 13, 2023. But after it began fighting against the CNDF, which is allied to the rival Chin Brotherhood, in Rihkhawdar on July 2, the CNDF seized control of the town from July 5-11.
The CNDF retreated from Rihkawdar on July 11, effectively handing control back to CDF-Hualngoram and the CNA. Since then, the situation in the town has returned to normal and residents began returning home from India.
“Education, healthcare, and administration have resumed. We’re also working on reconstruction and providing support to those affected by the fighting. [We] will keep doing our best to make sure our people can live peacefully,” said an official from the CDF-Hualngoram.
Tensions between the two resistance groups, which are allied to different factions of the Chin resistance, had been rising in Falam Township of Chinland since the beginning of June when CNDF forces set up three checkpoints in the Hualngoram area of the township.
The CDF-Hualngoram declared a state of emergency on June 16, claiming that it had received complaints about the CNDF checkpoints in Khawthlir village from residents.
CDF-Hualngoram is affiliated to the Chinland Council, which is effectively run by the CNA political wing the Chin National Front (CNF), founded as an ethnic armed group in 1988 to seek autonomy for Myanmar’s ethnic Chin people.
The CNDF is allied to the Chin Brotherhood, which acts as the armed wing of the Interim Chin National Consultative Council (ICNCC), founded in 2021 by Chin resistance groups and elected members of parliament ousted in the 2021 coup. It is backed by the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG).
BNI
