Falam: A turning point in Myanmar's revolution?
New forces demonstrate capabilities that could reshape the country's future.
Resistance forces prepped the ground for months: identifying command centers, designating prisoner-of-war camps, establishing a network of clandestine clinics. Then, on November 10, the campaign began — coordinated attacks on junta positions in the Chin towns of Falam and Mindat.
Success came quickly. Dozens of police officers surrendered in Falam, while Mindat fell completely by December 21. Nervously watching, junta troops in nearby Kanpetlet fled to the lowlands the following day.
The Last Holdout
But one holdout remained — a hilltop base overlooking Falam. Some of the 120 junta soldiers kept their guns trained on a stretch of road visible from their position, spraying bullets at anyone attempting to enter the town.
Their commander confiscated their phones. The resistance severed their water supply. Attempts to send reinforcements by helicopter failed under gunfire. For some soldiers — accompanied by their wives and children — a sense of dread must have deepened with each missed airborne supply, as the Chin closed in.
But the junta ordered them to stay. Falam was clearly of strategic importance — the former capital, bordering India, en-route to the current capital, Hakha. The garrison held on because of air support that buried resistance fighters in earthen bunkers and forced over 10,000 civilians to flee.
The New Guard
What made this operation so compelling was that ethnic armed groups weren’t on the ground.
Elsewhere, resistance attacks on urban centers have usually involved commanders from established forces like the Kachin Independence Army, leading newer fighters trained after the 2021 military coup.
For instance, the KIA and the post-coup People’s Defense Force just captured the northern Sagaing town of Indaw, routing junta troops from their underground bunker built by the Japanese during World War II.
In eastern Myanmar, the Karenni National Defence Force may appear to be an exception as a formidable, seemingly standalone post-coup force, but they’ve worked closely with the state’s old guard — the Karenni Army.
The post-coup Chin National Defense Force led the Falam campaign as part of the Chin Brotherhood Alliance, mentored by the seasoned Arakan Army.
While the AA deployed troops in Mindat, sources say there were no AA boots on the ground in Falam — possibly an intentional choice by the CNDF to assert autonomy.
They still took AA advice and used AA weapons. But instead, 500 to 600 resistance fighters from at least 15 post-coup groups — many of them ethnic Bamar combatants from central Myanmar — joined the fight.
It was a deadly learning ground, a test of their growing capabilities.
Breaking Point
After five grueling months, the holdout finally broke on 7 April. Some soldiers were captured, some killed, and about 70 fled toward the next military garrison in Sagaing’s Kalay township.
The resistance gave chase and waited until the battle was outside Falam township before declaring victory. They discovered over 30 women, children, and injured soldiers left behind at the base.
“They are in good hands,” said CNDF spokesperson Salai Timmy. “We’ll help them reconnect with their relatives, though that may take time. No harm will come to them.”
Falam township now belongs entirely to the resistance — potentially reclaiming its role as a trading hub. No doubt those Bamar combatants will soon apply their hard-earned skills to their hometowns in central Myanmar.
Meanwhile, resistance forces are clearing the aftermath of over 1,000 airstrikes — “landmines, bombs, destroyed houses, all the mess,” as Salai Timmy put it.
Displaced residents can return once the town is relatively safe, he said, though junta aerial attacks will likely continue.
So, there it is: Falam — the first district center captured by newly-formed forces without troop support from established ethnic armies, according to the CNDF.
“We are all newcomers to war,” Peter Thang, CNDF vice president and former travel agent, told me.
Generational Divide
Unlike those established groups who typically defend territorial enclaves, these new fighters like the CNDF harbor more ambitious goals — marching on Yangon and Naypyidaw itself.
The established ethnic armies have been critical to the uprising — providing training, weapons, and shelter — but they come with baggage.
Some began their struggles before the Berlin Wall was built, with goals that have fragmented over time.
Some leaders and commanders have conflicts of interest, and some are susceptible to outside influence — as we’re seeing now with the withdrawal of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army from Lashio or the Karen National Union’s fumbling of Myawaddy a year ago.
Both battles saw many young people who rose up against the coup lose their lives.
The AA is among the most clear-sighted and newest of the pre-coup forces. Yet their understandable wariness of any Bamar-dominated central power puts Rakhine first, and they’d rather have an independent Rakhine than a compromised Myanmar.
Whether these older groups will embrace the new, overarching vision of the young will shape the outcome of the revolution.
Looking Ahead
With Falam secured, the Chin resistance now eyes Tedim town to the north, perhaps followed by Hakha.
Though Tedim seems an easier target than Falam, capturing Hakha will present a significant military challenge.
Given that the city is more the domain of the Chin National Army, the old guard which has tensions with the CB, it will be interesting to see if the Chin factions can work together. Or at least not get in each other’s way.
Next week, paid subscribers will receive a Q&A with a Myanmar military captain captured in Falam, whose startling answers provide rare insight into the mentality of the junta. Previously kept under wraps for security reasons, I can now share this interview.
Free subscribers, jump aboard too — you’ll get exclusive material a couple times a month.
For more context on the battle for Falam, check out our coverage in Al Jazeera, and for those who read about the young sniper Anina in the Guardian — she survived the final assault, with many more battles ahead.
Here’s some of that Falam coverage:
https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/how-could-i-do-any-less-chin-states-mother-of-resistance/
https://whimyanmar.com/panic-for-fuel-and-fighting-for-falam
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