06/17/2021, 12.32
MYANMAR
Send to a friend

Military seize seven priests, torch a village in Myanmar

Father Aung Ling was freed after 11 hours of questioning. Priests have been picked up and forced to sign documents in which they pledge not to support opposition forces. A village is razed to the ground by a fire.

Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) continue to commit acts of violence against the Catholic Church and civilians.

Yesterday a Catholic priest was kidnapped, interrogated for 11 hours and then released. Michael Aung Ling, parish priest in Hakha Parish, was suspected of supporting resistance forces in Kanpetlet, a town in Chin State.

He was let go only after signing a document declaring his commitment not to support groups or movements that oppose the military.

The same fate befell yesterday six priests and another person who were abducted from a village in Mandalay because they were accused of helping young rebels.

On Tuesday evening, the military set fire to Kin Ma, a village in Magway, a region in central Myanmar, killing at least two elderly people trapped in their homes, local residents told Reuters.

Myanmar state TV blamed “terrorists” for the fire claiming that media reporting a different version of the incident were “deliberately plotting to discredit the military.”

According to residents, soldiers set the village on fire after clashes with forces opposing the military junta.

More than 200 houses were reduced to ashes while only 30 were left standing. Most of the population took refuge in the forests to escape the violence.

Days earlier, junta forces had raided villages in the Tabayin area and opened fire on civilians after cutting off the power supply.

According to The Irrawaddy, soldiers perhaps sought to take revenge for the killing of an informant's daughters.

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
For Fr Tom, abducted in Yemen, Holy Thursday prayer and adoration for the martyrs
21/03/2016 14:57
Rakhine, government rejects the ceasefire offered by Rohingya militants
11/09/2017 11:00
Yangon, Card. Bo to military junta: dialogue with opposition needed
05/12/2022 12:43
A silent international community faces Myanmar’s nuclear ambitions
08/06/2010
Yangon, 27 ethnic groups united in march against the coup
18/02/2021 12:31


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”