The Sacred Heart Church in Kayanthayar, following a military attack on May 24, 2021 Another church in Kayah state, a Catholic stronghold in eastern Myanmar, was damaged by indiscriminate shelling by the military.
Military fire hit Our Lady, Queen of Peace Church in the village of Doungankha the morning of June 6.
Church leaders said there were no casualties as people had fled to relatives’ homes and into the jungle, ucanews.com reported. The church’s walls were badly damaged and the windows were broken by the shelling.
It was the third church in Kayah state to be attacked by the military in two weeks.
Sacred Heart Church in Kantharyar, a village near Loikaw, was hit by artillery shelling that killed four Catholics and wounded at least eight others May 23.
St Joseph Church in Demoso, one of the key areas of fighting, was hit by military artillery May 26. The latest attack came despite a plea by Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, for the protection of religious buildings as places of worship.