LOIKAW (UCAN): Four people were killed and at least four others injured when the Sacred Heart Church in Kayanthayar parish near Loikaw, the capital city of Kayah state, Myanmar, came under fire from the military at around 1.00am on May 24.
More than 300 people from at least 60 families had taken refuge in the church compound due to fighting between Myanmar’s military and an anti-coup resistance group known as the People’s Defense Force.
Father Soe Naing, spokesperson for the Diocese of Loikaw, said all those still sheltering in the church had fled by the time parish officials checked the damaged building later in the morning of May 24.
He said thousands of people have taken refuge at churches, priests’ centres and nuns’ convents because they are deemed to be safe (Sunday Examiner, May 23).
“The Church is responding to humanitarian assistance but it’s a challenge for us as the number of internally displaced persons is increasing as a result of more fighting,” Father Soe Naing said.
Charles Cardinal Bo of Yangon, decried the military’s attack on May 25, saying in a May 25 statement: “It is with immense sorrow and pain that we record our anguish at the attack on innocent civilians who sought refuge in Sacred Heart Church in Kayantharyar village near Loikaw on May 23 night.”
Cardinal Bo said, “The violent acts including continuous shelling, using heavy weaponry on a frightened group of largely women and children, resulted in the tragic death of four people and wounding more than eight.”
The head of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, went on to say, “Churches, hospitals and schools are protected during conflict under the Hague Conventions,” he said, adding, “The blood that is spilled is not some enemy’s blood; those who died and those who were wounded are the citizens of this country. They were not armed; they were inside the church to protect their families.”
Cardinal Bo urged all sides not to escalate the conflict. “Our people are poor. Covid-19 robbed them of their livelihood, starvation stalks millions, the threat of another round of Covid-19 is real. Conflict is a cruel anomaly at this moment,” he said.
Clashes have been raging in eastern Myanmar, especially in Demoso township in Kayah state and Mobye township in neighbouring Shan state where anti-coup fighters seized and burned down a police station, killing at least 13 police officers in Mobye town on May 23, according to media reports.
The military launched airstrikes on the evening of May 23, while tanks and trucks with soldiers headed into Demoso town on the morning of May 24, according to local sources.
A second church in Demoso, St. Joseph’s Church was hit by artillery fire on the night of May 26 night but there were no casualties, according to Church sources.
The building’s windows were broken and several holes in the walls caused by the shelling were also visible.
Sources say no one was inside the church compound and that everyone from Demoso had already fled to safe areas after heavy fighting in the area.
Myanmar has been in political turmoil since the military seized power on February 1 (Sunday Examiner, February 7) and conducted a brutal crackdown against anti-coup protesters and other civilians that has led to at least 815 people been killed.
