LOIKDAW (UCAN): At least 15 parishes in the Diocese of Loikaw, in Myanmar’s Kayah state, have been severely affected by escalating fighting, while at least seven Catholic churches have been hit by artillery fire and airstrikes as fighting continues to escalate between the military and people’s defence forces. Senior clergy from the diocese described the situations as being in the middle of a war zone with sounds of gunfire, artillery shelling and airstrikes a daily affair.
“Amid the worsening situation, we remain together with hundreds of IDPs [internally displaced persons], especially women, children and the elderly in Loikaw town,” the priest said.
On February 15, a building in the compound of Our Lady, Queen of Peace Church in Doungankhar, Demoso township, was hit by shelling. The extent of damage could not be ascertained as church officials could not reach the place amid ongoing fighting, said a priest. The church was also hit in June 2021 [Sunday Examiner, 27 June 2021].
Meanwhile, soldiers en-camped inside the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in the parish of Doukhu in Loikaw, destroyed windows and images of the Way of the Cross, according to Church sources. The church building was hit by airstrikes on January 12 and one of its two bell towers was destroyed. However, there were no reports of civilian casualties.
A local priest condemned the attack as an “abomination, desecration and sacrilege.”
A Baptist church and a camp for internally displace persons in a village in Demoso township were also hit by shelling on February 10, injuring one person.
More than 650 houses and other civilian properties including churches, monasteries and schools have been burned or destroyed in Kayah since May 2021, according to reports cited by the United Nations.
At least 170,000 civilians in Karenni state or more than half of the state’s population of 300,000 have been forced from their homes due to the ongoing conflict, according to the Karenni Civil Society Network.
The junta, which seized power in February 2021 [Sunday Examiner, 7 Febraury 2021] is now battling ethnic armed groups and local militia groups on multiple fronts.
Kayah state, a remote and mountainous region, is regarded as a Catholic stronghold and with around 90,000 faithful out of a population of 355,000.
