Twenty-one civilians were injured as a gunfight broke out between the Myanmar Army and a militant group near the Mizoram border on Sunday.

Mizoram shares a 404-km international border with Myanmar.

The injured civilians have been admitted to a hospital in Mizoram’s Champhai district.

Officials have identified the militant group as the Chinland Defence Force, an outfit formed against the military junta in Myanmar, the Hindustan Times reported. The junta came back to power following a coup in February 2021.

The fighting began around 10.30 pm on Sunday and continued till Monday morning at the Zokhawthar-Rikhawdar border, one of the key trade routes India shares with Myanmar.

“Because of the fighting, hundreds have entered India at the border village of Zokhawthar, which is about one km from the fighting place,” Thankunga Pachuau, a leader of the Young Mizo Association, told Scroll.