Government military operations in northern Burma (Myanmar) escalated in December, culminating in civilian casualties on Christmas Eve that left Christians feeling attacked in part for their faith.
Offensives against rebel groups in Kachin state, where predominantly Christian, ethnic Kachin live, displaced dozens of villagers and seriously injured two civilians on Christmas Eve, local sources said.
Burma army artillery fire on Dec. 24 struck a village near Laiza, headquarters of the rebel Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), seriously injuring a schoolteacher and a student, according to the local sources.
Sin Gau, assistant pastor with the Kachin Baptist Convention in northern Kachin state, said fighting should have halted on Christmas Eve, when many celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
“They launched attacks when Christmas approached – it happens almost every year,” Sin Gau told Morning Star News. “So, we even felt as if they deliberately did it.”
Area Christians felt the fighting disrespected their religious rights, he said.
“As we are Christian, Christmas Eve is the most important thing for us, but we couldn’t fully enjoy Christmas as fighting continued,” Sin Gua said.
The Burma army and KIO’s military wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), have been fighting since 2011 following the breakdown of a bilateral…
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