Chins, a Christian resistance in the face of the junta

Almost nothing remains in Thantlang. The city formerly populated by 15,000 inhabitants is in ruins, ravaged by fighting. The local resistance, led by Chin ethnicity, a Christian guerrilla warfare, advances house by house, firing the soldiers of the junta in their last bastions. All rural areas in the region are now under the control of insurgents and large cities, surrounded, threaten to fall.

The Chin State, west of Burma, is the symbol of this civil war which rages in the country. After the coup d’etat of February 1, 2021 – which overthrew leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ended ten years of democratic transition -, many ethnic minorities, including the Chins, took up arms. Thousands of young people deprived of the future have joined the maquis, refusing to fold in the face of this junta which multiplies the abuses to establish its authority.

Four years later, the war spread like a trail of powder on almost all of the country. A shadow government has formed in exile and the armed resistance in Burma has organized itself with the support of the population. The myriad of armed groups, from various globally united peoples against the same enemy, continues the victories. The junta clings to power but only controls half of the national territory.

Behind these successes, the humanitarian crisis is immense. Thousands of deaths, more than 3.5 million displaced and razed villages. However, the momentum of the resistance does not weaken.