Demoso Catholic Church damaged by junta airstrike

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03/10/2022 Burma (International Christian Concern) – As the world turns its attention to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the people of Myanmar continue to struggle against the same kind of evil – the Tatmadaw (Burma Army). For more than a year, the Tatmadaw failed to take control of the country through a coup and continued to attack civilians, villages and places of worship.

On March 8, a Catholic church in Kayah State was attacked by the Tatmadaw in an airstrike. According to church sources, the ceiling and windows of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Saun Du La village in Demoso commune were badly damaged.

Despite repeated pleas from church leaders not to target places of worship, the Tatmadaw continued its offensives against churches and civilians in Christian strongholds like Kayah State and Chin State.

UCA News reports that a military plane bombed the church around 2 a.m. on March 8 assuming it was sheltering people fleeing the ongoing conflict.

“As there was no ongoing armed conflict in this area, this was clearly a deliberate and planned attack on the Catholic Church and innocent civilians to maximize the human death toll and wipe out the religion” , he added. said a priest.

Although Saun Du La was not close to the fighting between the local defense group and the Tatmadaw, the junta still targeted the village on several occasions, a place where more than 100 displaced civilians were sheltering from the Myanmar regime. Two women were injured in the attack aimed at intimidating fleeing civilians.

Ongoing fighting between local defense groups and the Tatmadaw since last May has resulted in eight Catholic churches being hit by artillery shelling and airstrikes by the latter in the Diocese of Loikaw. As a result, some 16 out of 38 parishes in the Diocese of Loikaw have been abandoned by priests, nuns and parishioners who have fled to safe areas following intensified fighting.

Attacks on civilian homes forced people to move to safe areas, including church institutions and even jungles. According to January data from the Karenni Human Rights Group, more than 170,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Kayah State, with clashes taking place almost daily in Loikaw and Demoso townships.

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