GUWAHATI: India on Tuesday safely evacuated 39 fleeing Myanmar Army personnel back to the military-ruled country. The personnel, including two officers, had fled an intense gun battle with some ethnic armed groups in the Chin state of the country and taken refuge in Champhai district of Mizoram.
Defence sources said the personnel were flown to the India-Myanmar border town of Moreh in Manipur from the Hnahlan helipad in Champhai. After landing in Moreh, they moved into Myanmar in the vicinity by crossing the ‘friendship bridge’. Tamu is the nearest Myanmar town there.
“Two Mi-17 helicopters were used to transport them. We were told two-three others entered Mizoram on Tuesday. They will be evacuated in a similar manner,” a defence official told this paper.After the personnel had entered the Champhai district, the Mizoram police took their custody and kept them at the Zokhawthar police station. A mob, believed to be refugees from Myanmar, had gathered outside the police station on Monday evening. Later, the personnel were handed over to Assam Rifles.
A fierce gunbattle erupted at Khawmawi in Myanmar on Sunday evening after the Arakan Army had overrun a Myanmar Army camp in a joint attack. In the wake of the fighting, over 1,500 Chin refugees fled to Mizoram, some in injured state.