Coffins are lined up next to graves as a mass funeral takes place in northern Kachin state on Oct 10, 2023. The state near the Chinese border has seen intense fighting since Mar 7 (Photo: AFP)
By UCA News reporter
Mar 15 2024
MYANMAR – Church groups and Buddhist monks have joined local charity workers to evacuate a thousand civilians following intense fighting in northern Kachin state where a large number of Christians live.
“With the help of Church and Buddhist groups, we could evacuate the trapped civilians and send them to Church-run camps and monasteries,” Church social worker Vincent, who uses one name, told UCA News on Mar 14.
The villagers, mostly Buddhists, Baptists, and Catholics are accommodated in a Buddhist monastery and Church-run camps in Waimaw town, according to Church sources.
On Mar 13, the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), monks, and charity workers evacuated more than 900 civilians trapped in villages in Waimaw township in Kachin, where fighting between the military and armed ethnic rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) started on Mar 7.
The villages are situated along the road from Waimaw town to Laiza, headquarters of the KIA, where intense fighting with airstrikes and artillery shelling is going on.
Three elderly people were killed due to the shelling and another elderly person died while they were trapped in their villages, according to Kachin state-based media reports.
The religious leaders have urged military officials in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, for permission to evacuate the civilians who were in dire need of food and medicines.
Another Church source said nearly 1,000 people who are mainly Catholics and Baptists from Suprabum township have fled their homes and taken refuge in nearby villages and jungles.
“We are concerned for the safety and well-being of the fleeing civilians, especially in the jungle. If the situation gets worse, they will have to flee again,” a Church source, who withheld his name due to security concerns, told UCA News on Mar 14.
Since the fighting began on Mar 7, the rebels have seized around 20 military bases and outposts, including two near Laiza, said media reports citing a rebel spokesperson.
The military, which toppled the civilian government in February 2021, is fighting with armed groups and newly-emerged People Defense Forces on multiple fronts in Kachin, western Rakhine and the eastern Karenni and Karen states.
The military has not published details of the fighting in Kachin, which has a population of 1.7 million, including 116,000 Catholics.
Kachin state, bordering China, has witnessed regular military attacks since independence from Britain in 1948 as the KIA has been fighting for autonomy and self-determination. – UCA News
