Mizoram police arrest 42 Myanmar military personnel who crossed border in search of 'rebels'

Guwahati: Mizoram police arrested at least 42 Myanmar military personnel on Monday for "illegally crossing the border" following an airstrike against "rebels" in the neighbouring country. Mizoram shares a 500-km-long border with Myanmar.

The detained military personnel have been handed over to Assam Rifles, the Central forces guarding the Indo-Myanmar border, following an order from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mizoram Inspector General of Police Lalbiakthanga Khiangte told DH on Tuesday. 

"Last evening, 40 were taken into custody from different locations in Mizoram, including a group of 16 personnel sheltering in a jhum hut. Some others were found along a riverbank inside Indian territory near the border. Two more were taken into custody this morning," Khiangte said, adding that they were handed over to Assam Rifles following the MHA's order.

However, Khiangte did not confirm whether the military personnel were in possession of weapons.

Sources in Mizoram indicated that the military personnel had crossed the border and entered areas near Zokhawthar in Champhai district, sharing a border with Myanmar's Chin state. "They crossed the border, likely in search of Myanmar nationals who fled and took shelter in Zokhawthar following the gunfight that started Sunday," said an official.

Over 2,000 Myanmar nationals, including at least 17 injured in the recent conflict, have sought refuge in Champhai district since Sunday.

Officials in Mizoram reported a fresh influx into Champhai following the airstrike and gunfight by the Myanmar military against the Chinland Defence Force (CDF), an armed force formed to protect Chin State from the Myanmar military junta. Reports indicated that a fighter jet dropped two bombs in Chin-dominated Rhikhawdar village, about four kilometres from Zokhawdar village in Mizoram's Champhai. The fresh conflict erupted after the CDF reportedly took control of an army camp in Rhikhawdar village. 

Since the military coup in 2020, more than 30,000 Myanmar nationals, including over 40 MPs and MLAs from the National League for Democracy (NLD), have sought shelter in Mizoram. The NLD is led by Nobel laureate and Myanmar's most prominent political face, Aung San Suu Kyi. The refugees have been provided shelter by churches and NGOs and helped by the state government. Mizoram CM Zoramthanga even defied the Centre's directive to push back the refugees, saying they share ethnic ties with the Mizos and that Mizoram cannot "turn a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in its backyard".