Fighters of a local militia opposed to Myanmar’s junta have pulled back from the northwestern town of Mindat after days of assault by combat troops backed by artillery.
The fighting in the hill town of Mindat, about 100 km from the Indian border in Chin state, has been some of the heaviest since the coup plunged Myanmar into chaos with daily protests.
One fighter said they retreated out of concern over damage to the town, adding that only women and children remained in the town of over 40,000 that was now largely occupied by the army.
The U.S.-funded RFA website quoted a member of the group as saying five of its fighters were killed, but it believed it had inflicted losses several times that many on the army, widely known as the Tatmadaw.
The United States and Britain called on the army to avoid civilian casualties while the shadow National Unity Government formed by loyalists of Myanmar’s detained elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, appealed for international help.
The fighting marks the emergence of the Chinland Defence Force, one of several new groups to spring up in opposition to the junta in a country which already had about two dozen ethnic armed groups.
The fighters also say they are part of the People’s Defence Forces of the shadow government.
But the Army-controlled Myawaddy television said on Saturday that some security forces were killed and others missing after attacks, adding that Security forces would work day and night to bring order.
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