A view of a relief camp where people who fled Myanmar stay, at the border village of Zokhawthar, Champhai district, in India's northeastern state of Mizoram, India [Source: Reuters]

At least 29 more Myanmar soldiers entered India fleeing an attack by insurgents on their military base close to the Indian border, an Indian police official said, as rebels step up their assaults against the ruling junta .

Earlier this week, 43 Myanmar soldiers entered India’s Mizoram state after their military bases were overrun by the rebels. Nearly 40 were sent back by Indian authorities through a different border crossing point a few hundred kms east.

Myanmar’s military has battled ethnic minority and other insurgencies for decades but a 2021 coup has brought unprecedented coordination between anti-military forces that are mounting the biggest challenge to the army in years.

The country’s military rulers have ordered all government staff and those with military experience to prepare to serve in case of emergency, Tin Maung Swe, secretary of an administrative council in the capital, Naypyitaw said on Thursday, after the junta reported “heavy assaults” in several places.