Myanmar: Burmese Army plants landmines in destroyed churches

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Burmese Army in Myanmar’s Chin state has now taken to planting landmines inside the ruins of churches it has destroyed, in order to deter Christians from returning to rebuild the communities the junta has driven them out from, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Since the February 1 military coup, the Tatmadaw has been murdering and displacing Myanmar Christians in its efforts to violently impose Buddhism.

A local source (who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons) told media that on December 11 the Tatmadaw planted landmines in four Catholic and Protestant ruined churches in the formerly Christian-majority Chin state, ICC reports. All four churches were previously looted by the army.

Thousands of Christians have had to flee their homes and communities, to escape the junta. Some are seeking refuge in neighboring India, others have escaped to find shelter in the Magway region.

“Not just our churches, bombs have been planted in front of our houses and now everywhere in the town,” a source said.

According to ICC, the Myanmar Christian who have been driven out and displaced “direly need humanitarian aid and are living in limbo as they struggle to pay for rent and food.”

Christianity is the second-largest religion in Myanmar and is perceived as a severe threat to the Tatmadaw. Christians make up 6.3% of Myanmar’s population: around four-fifths of the country’s Christians are Protestants (primarily Baptists of the Myanmar Baptist Convention); the remainder are Roman Catholics.

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