Three people have been seriously injured by a land mine blast as they rode their motorcycles near the Indian border in Myanmar’s northwestern Chin state.

The three locals were traveling to a Seventh Day Adventist church meeting at a village in Tedim township when the device exploded on Monday morning.

Residents said the injured were a 20-year old woman who received leg and chest wounds; a 17-year old man; and a 20-year old man. A fourth person traveling with them was uninjured. The locals didn’t want their names made public.

“The four were traveling on two motorbikes,” said a relative of the woman, who also requested anonymity. 

“The young girl was seriously injured and can no longer hear. The 17-year-old was injured in the shoulder and the 20-year-old was also badly hurt.”

The three were taken across the border for medical treatment in India’s Mizoram state, residents said.

The Mountain Eagle Defense Force, a local anti-junta militia which has been fighting the military since August 2022, said it planted the mine. An official, who also declined to be identified, said the People’s Defense Force intended to target junta troops but made no apology for injuring civilians.

“The army could come at any time, so we planted mines,” he said. 

“We also made obstacles to prevent [civilians] going to this place. The three friends went down to that place without respecting the restrictions. Did they disagree with the actions of [our] revolutionary group?”

The militia spokesman also accused the junta of planting landmines around their own military camp in the area.

According to the figures compiled by RFA, 11 civilians have been killed and 20 injured by landmines in Chin state since the military toppled Myanmar’s democratically elected government in February 2021.