Barnabas Fund contacts report that two Kachin Christian men were badly injured when one stepped on a landmine in Kachin state, Myanmar (Burma) on 7 January.
The men suffered severe lower-body injuries when they left the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp to look for food in a forest, where they triggered the anti-personnel mine.
One man was badly injured but did not lose any limbs. However, his friend’s injuries were so extensive that doctors had to amputate both of his legs. The man has two daughters, aged two-and-a-half years and seven months, and is reported to be in deep distress. Barnabas contacts have requested prayers for both men.
Landmines sown indiscriminately in civilian areas of northern Myanmar are continuing to cause appalling, life-changing injuries among displaced Kachin Christians. In July 2018, landmines and shrapnel injured several Christians , including some children, in Kachin state.
Tens of thousands of civilians were displaced in early 2018 when the Myanmar Army stepped up its military campaign in the state against the mainly-Christian Kachin people. A UN report has described the army’s actions as “crimes against humanity”. At the end of 2018, Myanmar’s military announced a unilateral four-month ceasefire for Kachin state.
From Barnabas Fund contacts
