Myanmar's military destroyed St. Patrick's Catholic Cathedral during fighting
Kyiv • UNN
Myanmar's military junta set fire to and destroyed St. Patrick's Cathedral in Kachin State. Most of the population, including priests, fled due to fighting with rebels.
The cathedral, built by missionaries in the 1950s and considered a city landmark, was attacked as a result of fighting between the military junta and separatist rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
UNN reports with a reference to AsiaNews and ORF.
Soldiers of the military junta of Myanmar, which was planning a coup, set fire to and destroyed St. Patrick's Cathedral in Bamo, Kachin State (northern part of the country). At this time, a significant part of the population, including most of the priests and the local bishop, Raymond Sumlut Gam, fled to the surrounding forests. People were hiding due to fighting between the military junta and separatist rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
According to media reports, the fire destroyed the Catholic Cathedral, which was built by missionaries in the 1950s and is considered a landmark of the city, dedicated to St. Patrick.
Reference
The civil war in Myanmar began in February 2021 after an attempted coup by the local army. More than four years after the start of the confrontation, Myanmar is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Prior to the escalation of the conflict, the region was home to over 407,000 people of various ethnic groups, including over 27,000 baptized Catholics. Current data shows that the Catholic population is about 35,908 people.
Recall
UNN previously reported that rebels in Myanmar announced the capture of a military base near the strategic trading city of Myawaddy on the border with Thailand, dealing a serious blow to the military regime, which has been ceding ground to opposition groups for several months.
