Aizawl:
A fierce gun battle between two armed groups in Myanmar’s Chin State has spilled over into Mizoram, with stray bullets striking homes in Zokhawthar, a border village in Champhai district, local sources said on Saturday.
According to a leader of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Zokhawthar, the ongoing violence has heightened tensions among residents.
“We have appealed to both groups not to direct their fire toward Zokhawthar. Several houses have been hit by stray bullets,” he said. No casualties have been reported in the Indian village so far.
Amid the unrest, one person reportedly drowned in the Tiau River while attempting to cross into India. YMA volunteers have launched a search operation to locate the missing individual.
The cross-border tension comes as a fresh influx of refugees from Myanmar was reported in the Champhai district.
The displacement followed a clash between two pro-democracy armed groups — the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and Chinland Defence Force (CDF)-Hualngoram — at Khawmawi, a village located just across the river from Zokhawthar.
Khawmawi and Zokhawthar are separated by the Tiau River, which serves as a natural boundary between India and Myanmar.
While the exact number of people fleeing into Mizoram is yet to be confirmed, officials said many residents from the conflict zone are seeking shelter in the Indian border village.
Both the CNDF and CDF operate in Myanmar’s Chin State and are made up of fighters from the Zo ethnic community.
The two groups, despite sharing common pro-democratic goals, have reportedly been engaged in a bitter turf war over control of the area in recent days.
Security agencies in Mizoram continue to monitor the situation closely as local organisations assist those affected by the ongoing conflict.
