Flames again ravage Chin State’s Thantlang

By DMG 02 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
2 December 2021, Thantlang (Chin State) 

Fires blamed on Tatmadaw troops have again decimated neighbourhoods in the town of Thantlang, Chin State, with dozens of homes, churches and other buildings burnt down on November 27. 

An official from the Thantlang Township Resettlement Committee told DMG that at least 90 homes were set on fire in two Thantlang neighbourhoods where junta soldiers were stationed on Saturday. 

“I heard some homes in downtown Thantlang, where the junta soldiers are deployed, were set ablaze at around 4 p.m. A total of 96 homes were burnt to the ground,” the committee member added. 

Fire destroyed the 96 houses across three wards, and the epicentre of the blaze was located near the Thantlang police station, according to the Thantlang Township Resettlement Committee. 

Scores of homes and other buildings in Thantlang have gone up in flames over recent weeks, with the military regime and anti-regime resistance fighters blaming each other for the fires.  

“The junta soldiers torched homes in Thantlang for fear of being ambushed by the anti-coup resistance fighters,” a member of the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) said of the most recent incident. “They destroyed homes in downtown Thantlang for fear of being attacked by the resistance fighters.” 

The military council has accused CDF members of setting homes on fire in Thantlang. 

Many residents of Thantlang and surrounding villages have fled to neighbouring India. There are more than 2,000 displaced people taking refuge across the border in India’s Mizoram State, with the IDPs in need of food supplies, according to the Thantlang Township Resettlement Committee.