151 Myanmar soldiers who fled to Mizoram, sent back, says Assam Rifles

Guwahati: At least 151 Myanmarese soldiers, who fled armed clashes with an ethnic insurgent group, have been sent back to their country on Tuesday, an Assam Rifles officer said.

The Myanmarese soldiers were airlifted by Myanmar Air Force from Aizawl directly to Myanmar, the officer said.

The soldiers crossed the Indian border and entered southernmost Mizoram's Lawngtlai district on  December 29 after their camps near the international borders were overrun by Arakan Army fighters.

The Myanmar army personnel, also known as the ‘Tatmadaw,’ fled with their arms and approached the Assam Rifles at Tuisentlang in Lawngtlai district after intense gunfights with the Arakan Army fighters.

They had been in the safe custody of Assam Rifles at Parva in Lawngtlai district near the Myanmar border since then.

Several military bases of the Myanmar army in Chin State fell to pro-democracy forces in 2022 as the National Unity Government of Myanmar in exile called for the overthrow of the military junta that staged a coup in February 2021.

In November, a total of 104 Myanmar soldiers fled to Mizoram after their military camps along the Myanmar-India border were overrun by pro-democracy militias- People’s Defence Force (PDF).

They were airlifted by the Indian Airforce to Moreh in Manipur, from where they crossed the international border and entered Tamu, the nearest border town in Myanmar.

The first batch of the Myanmarese soldiers numbering about 40 were airlifted from nearby Hnahlan village in Champhai district on November 14, while the last batch numbering 30 were airlifted from Tuipang in Siaha district on November 29.