A five-year-old girl was killed on November 15 as the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) shelled a kindergarten in a Christian-majority area of Kayah State.
The girl had been sheltering at the kindergarten in Demoso township with her family after they were forced to flee their home village of Kone Thar, also owing to heavy shelling.
She sustained an injury to her thigh when the artillery shell struck at about 5:30pm and bled to death before treatment could be received.
Among several members of the family who were also wounded, a 10-month-old boy was left in a critical condition after injury to his back.
A Tatmadaw unit based near Demoso carried out the shelling, according to a local source, who added, “They know that displaced people usually take shelter in churches or schools. They did it on purpose.”
It was in Demoso township that a father and his 13-year-old daughter were killed by Tatmadaw shelling at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) on Sunday, July 31.
The Tatmadaw, which seized power in Buddhist-majority Myanmar in a coup on February 1, 2021, has for many years persecuted the Christian-majority Chin, Kachin and Karen ethnic groups, as well as the large Christian communities in Kayah and Shan states, and the Muslim-majority Rohingya.
Pray that family of the girl will be comforted as they process their loss. Ask that the rest of the family will recover from their injuries and will soon find safe havens away from the threat of attack. Pray that targeted attacks on Christians and other displaced persons in Myanmar will cease.
