Drone-based bomb strike on Myanmar Army post near Mizoram poses threat

Kolkata: A drone-propelled aerial bomb strike by the Myanmar-based ethnic armed groups (EAG) on a post of their country's Army close to the Indian border along Mizoram has raised fresh security concerns in the defense establishment.

At around 9.30 am on February 3, Chin National Army (CNA) and Chinland Defence Force (CDF), the two insurgent outfits, dropped three bombs using a drone at a village near Thantlang which is the southernmost edge of Chin state in Myanmar, according to sources.

Their target was a company post of the Myanmar Army on a mountainous terrain at Thantlang. Though no casualty was reported so far, the proximity of the spot to the Indian border under the Eastern Command turned out to be barely 10-15 kms.

Army sources pointed out that this was also the first time when Chin Region witnessed a drone strike which earlier happened in Sagaing region of Myanmar on December 25 and 28.

The latest attack, which unfolded a day after martial law was imposed in seven township in Chin state on February 2, showed how the CNA and CDF stepped up their offensive against the Myanmar Army within 48 hours in an ongoing conflict.

Army officials suspect how the EAGs are getting access to niche technologies, which are in use for some time in other parts of the world, but are yet to find a way in the ongoing Myanmar crisis. They feel that the developments in the neighboring country need careful monitoring with appropriate measures.

The civil war has intensified in Myanmar as its army carried out air and artillery strikes on the EAGs on November 9 and 14, December 27 and January 11 while the EAGs retaliating on the military on November 22 and December 22 and 27.