Assam Rifles refutes claims of explosion on Mizoram side during aerial strikes in Myanmar

Two days after the Myanmar military reportedly bombed a rebel camp along the country's border with India, with some local leaders claiming that one shell fell in Mizoram's Champai district, the Assam Rifles (AR) on December 12 rebuffed the assertion stating that the Indian side was unaffected by the aerial strikes.

A senior official of the Assam Rifles, which guards the India-Myanmar border, also stated that several explosions occurred in the neighbouring country along the international boundary. A senior official of Champai district said that an official statement would be issued in the matter only after a thorough verification of the details.

 "I have sent a magistrate of the area concerned to verify the claims being made by some locals. An official report in the matter can be expected by December 12 evening," Champhai deputy commissioner James Lalrinchhana said.

He said that a detailed report will be sent to higher authorities once the verification is done. Lalramliana, the president of Farkawn village council in Champai, however, said that a bomb was dropped near Tiau river on the Mizoram side.A truck owned by a village council member has been damaged in the explosion, he said.

The Myanmar military junta, on December 10, reportedly launched aerial strikes on Camp Victoria, the military headquarters of the Chin National Army (CNA), one of the most powerful ethnic insurgent groups in the neighbouring country.

A CNA leader in Mizoram said that five people, including two women, were killed and 15 others injured in the attack.The ChamphaI DC said that initial reports received by the administration suggest that eight explosions have occurred in the neighbouring country.

"We have not received any report of casualties as it is not matter of our concern. It is an internal issue of a foreign country," he added.

Mizoram, which shares 510-km-long border with Myanmar, is currently hosting thousands of people who fled the neighbouring country after the military junta seized power in February 2021.