May 13.
A displaced young man from Tonzang told Chin World Media that many young people in Tonzang and surrounding villages are fleeing the area because CDF-Tonzang is summoning young people to join militia training and arresting those who fail to attend.
“We were in the first group of the people’s militia training in Tonzong. They said we were between 18 and 35 years old. We attended the training for 10 days. The training ended on April 19. The administrator begged us to attend the training for the full day, so we had to attend the training for the full day. There were about 150 of us. Some of us fled during the training. I fled as soon as I finished the training. Now, on May 10, we are holding the second militia training. Young people from Tonzang are fleeing almost every day,” said a young man from Tonzang who fled from the people’s militia.
The participants were asked about their wishes and were divided into different tasks. 18 of them said they wanted to continue the training and join the army. The rest were asked to do support duties during the fighting, and to provide security and reconnaissance in the area, according to the young man from Tonzang.
Regarding the civil service training conducted by CDF-Tonzang, CDF-Tonzang’s Chief of Staff Puthang Swinmon said, “This training was conducted with the consent of the Tonzang Township Council. It was conducted at the request of the village and ward administrators. After the ZRA-EC burned down Natzan and Baumwal villages, the civil service training was called to take on the security responsibilities of the community. This is also because the war front is currently divided into two areas. The village and ward administrators prepared and sent the list of people who would attend the civil service training. There were people who did not follow the instructions of the administrators and evaded the training and ran away, so they were arrested. If single people are willing, they are arranged to continue to join the CDF-Tonzang and CC. For married people, we have arranged for the civil service to take on the security of the community.”
It is also learned that a specified number of people from Tonzang town and nearby villages were invited to attend the militia training.
