BANGKOK — A Baptist pastor and three other men were killed and a town of 2,000 homes all but abandoned this past weekend in fighting in Burma’s western Chin State that escalated after a call for a nationwide uprising against the country’s military government, a resident said Thursday.
The fighting on Saturday in Thantlang between government troops and the Chin-land Defense Force, a local resistance group, followed more than a week of smaller skirmishes in which at least two government troops were reported killed.
Chin State has had some of the strongest insurgent activity against the military-installed government that seized power in February from the elected administration of Aung San Suu Kyi. Residents of the remote region have a long-standing reputation for their fierce fighting spirit.
The Chinland Defense Force reported it killed two army soldiers in a Sept. 9 ambush, according to independent Burmese media. Sporadic fighting was also reported in the area over the following days.
Major fighting broke out Saturday, according to the resistance and government.
An artillery shell started a fire that destroyed 19 buildings, including a newly built hotel, said a resident who insisted on not being identified because he feared punishment from the government.