Seven children among nine killed as Myanmar military bombs church

19 November 2024

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Nine people, including seven children, were killed when the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) bombed a church in Kachin State near the border with China on 15 November.

The Tatmadaw bomb struck the church in Konlaw village next to a camp sheltering people displaced by the fighting.

“It hit kids from the camp who were playing in the area at the time, the camp itself and the church,” local spokesman Naw Bu said.

A church and camp in Konlaw village, Kachin State were struck in the airstrike that killed nine people [Image credit: Citizen photo]

“In just one family, the father, the mother, and all their kids, six people in total, died,” he added, announcing that nine people were killed in the airstrike.

Naw Bu named the victims as Sut Zai Li, 5, May Sen Pan, 7, Gum Seng Maw, 9, Tsawm San, 10, Mung Htoi Awng, 11, Sa Ra Seng, 11, Myu Jet Awn, 13, Lazum Lung Wa, 35 and Mun Mai, 36.

Eleven people were injured, seven critically, and are receiving treatment at a hospital near the border town of Lai Zar.

Attacks against the Kachin people and other Christian-majority ethnic groups have increased since the Tatmadaw seized power in the coup of February 2021.

The airstrike follows just two weeks after the bombing of the church in the home village of senior church leader Charles Maung Bo on 30 October in Sagaing Region.

Pray that the Lord will comfort those who are mourning the loss of loved ones in this airstrike. Ask for a full recovery and physical, emotional and spiritual healing for those wounded. Pray for an end to such attacks on church buildings and camps for displaced people in Myanmar.

Related Countries

Myanmar (Burma)