As many as 15 Myanmar soldiers were killed in western Chin state Monday by a newly formed ethnic militia the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) witnesses and a local rights group said, RFA reported.

“As many as 15 Burmese soldiers have reportedly been killed in a firefight with local civilian militia in Mindat, southern Chin state,” the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) said on its Facebook page. A truck was also seen burning in the town, the group said.

The CHRO said about 10 of the slain soldiers were in a convoy of three trucks sent as reinforcements from the army’s Tactical Operations Command headquarters in nearby Matupi town, while five other troops were reported killed in Mindat, a town of 10,000 people.