Some 1,400 Myanmar nationals took refuge in Mizoram’s Champhai district early Monday morning following an intense gunfight between the Myanmar Army and pro-democracy militias in Chin State across India’s border with the neighbouring country.
Among the refugees were 16 people injured in the shelling by the Myanmar Army, while one Myanmar national was killed on the Indian side of the border in the district’s Zokhawthar area after being hit by shrapnel, officials said. The person was hit by a “metallic object” after a bomb exploded across the Tiau river that marks almost half the 510 km border between the two countries, officials said.
Zokhawthar, a now-closed border trade point, is about 205 km southeast of Mizoram’s capital Aizawl.
Champhai district’s Deputy Commissioner, James Lalrinchhana, said the fighting across the border started on Sunday evening and ended on Monday morning. He confirmed reports of bombing close to the International Border and said officials have been asked to assess the situation in Zokhawthar, about 42 km from Champhai, the district’s headquarters.
Assam Rifles officials manning the border said the situation along the border has been tense with many people from villages and towns in the bordering areas of Myanmar having crossed over. A local police officer said a Myanmar national, hit by a shrapnel, died soon after crossing the border.
While a few made it to Mizoram via the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Bridge — closed to vehicles, but not for people who walk across — hundreds marched across the Tiau river which has ankle to knee-deep water.
L. Hruaimawia, the liaison officer of the District-Level Committee on Myanmar Refugees said 5,604 displaced people from Myanmar are currently in the Zokhawthar area. The district has more than 10,000 such refugees.
“Among the refugees in Zokhawthar are about 1,400 [persons] who came in during the last 24 hours, and 16 of them were injured during the fighting in Myanmar,” he told The Hindu.
Thangkunga Pachuau, a school teacher and former leader of the Young Mizo Association’s district unit, said local people have been taking care of the refugees, who hope to return once the situation in Myanmar normalises.
The refugees are Chins, an ethnic community related to the majority Mizos of Mizoram.
Published - November 13, 2023 04:59 pm IST
