Defense News ,India :- In a two-day repatriation effort spanning Monday and Tuesday, more than 600 Myanmar soldiers, who had sought refuge in Mizoram, are set to return to their homeland, according to an official from the Assam Rifles. The repatriation involves the airlifting of 276 personnel by Myanmar air force planes from the Lengpui airport near Aizawl to Sittwe in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
The soldiers initially entered Bandukbanga village in southernmost Mizoram's Lawngtlai district, near the India-Myanmar-Bangladesh trijunction, on January 17 with arms and ammunition. Subsequently, they approached the Assam Rifles, who facilitated their relocation to the nearby camp at Parva, with the majority later being shifted to Lunglei.
Under the vigilant supervision of the Assam Rifles since their arrival, the 276 soldiers were transported to Aizawl over the weekend for their journey back to Myanmar from the Lengpui airport. Led by a colonel, the group comprises 36 officers and 240 lower-rank personnel.
This repatriation initiative comes in the wake of 635 Myanmar soldiers fleeing to Mizoram since November, following the capture of their camps by ethnic armed organizations and pro-democratic forces. Of this total, 359 soldiers have already been repatriated.
In a series of repatriation efforts, the Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters facilitated the transport of 104 Myanmar army personnel to the border town of Moreh in Manipur in November. Additionally, 255 soldiers were airlifted via Myanmar air force planes on January 2 and January 9 from the Lengpui airport.
Notably, Mizoram shares a 510-km-long border with Myanmar, and these repatriation endeavors underscore ongoing collaborative efforts to address cross-border security concerns. This news report is provided without any editing by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
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