The Myanmar junta destroyed a Baptist Church in Chin state on Sunday, in the third attack on church buildings in five days and violating a ceasefire it declared to help relief works after last month’s devastating earthquake. Source: UCA News.
The Myoma Baptist Church in Mindat town and several other buildings were severely damaged in the latest aerial bombing in the predominantly Christian Chin state, according to Church sources and rights groups.
The Palm Sunday bombing of the church caused no civilian casualties, as churchgoers had already fled the area out of fear of possible attacks, Church sources said.
It was the third attack on a Christian structure in five days after Christ the King Catholic Church in Falam township was hit with air strikes on April 8.
In another aerial attack, on April 9, also in Mindat town, six civilians, including an eight-month-old baby and a pastor, were killed. The attack also damaged the Assembly of God church and several homes in the area.
The junta’s action violates the ceasefire it announced in the quake-stricken country from April 2 to 22 to allow the relief efforts. However, the junta accused ethnic groups and anti-coup resistance forces of launching offensives.
The mountainous and underdeveloped Chin state, where 85 per cent of its 478,000 people are Christians, has been at the forefront of resistance since 2021, when the junta took power through a coup deposing an elected government.
Chin state is controlled by a political alliance – the Chinland Council and the Chin Brotherhood Alliance. The junta offensive is seen as an attempt to regain control.
The air strikes are “a cruel and calculated attempt by a desperate regime to reassert control by terrorising an already devastated population,” said a statement from the Chin Human Rights Organisation.
“Bombing villages, churches, and children in the middle of a humanitarian disaster shows the junta’s utter contempt for life, faith, and the laws of war.”
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Myanmar junta continues airstrikes, another Church destroyed (UCA News)
