As the Tatmadaw (Burmese Army) intensifies its offense against Christian-majority Chin state, another church fell victim to the vandalism of the junta troops.
Chin Human Rights Association reports that junta troops from Hakha-based Light Infantry Battalion #266 vandalized and desecrated a Baptist Church in Tinam Village after they had used the building for overnight shelter last week. The same column of troops burned down nine houses in the village, causing the entire community to flee into the jungles.
A pastor who fled the village told The Chin Journal (TCJ) that around 700 villagers took shelter in a remote forest.
Chin Association of Maryland (CAM) issued a statement that CAM strongly condemns the burning of homes and destroying of churches in Zokhua and Tinam villages in Chin State including the Sang Fen Memorial Church.
A nearby village, Ruavan, also had similar fate. A villager told TCJ that Myanmar junta soldiers looted and destroyed several properties in their village. “They camped at our churches and broke in every single house in the village. They also butchered and ate dozens of domestic animals,” said the villager.