Myanmar: Fire set by military devastates Cathedral of Banmaw

By Lisa Zengarini

The ever-escalating civil war in Myanmar reached another grim milestone on Sunday, March 16, with the destruction by fire of the Catholic Cathedral of Banmaw, a town in the northern Kachin State

The cathedral was reportedly set ablaze during operations conducted in the area by the soldiers of the State Administration Council (SAC), the military junta in power, on the eve of the feast of St. Patrick, the Saint to whom the church is dedicated.

According to local sources of Fides Agency, the fire broke out at 4 p.m. on Sunday. The priest's house, the three-story building housing diocesan offices, and the high school of the Diocese had already been set on fire by the military on February 26.

The Diocese of Banmaw currently led by Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam, covers a largely mountainous area bordering China to the east. Before the conflict broke out it was home to a civilian population of more than 407,000 inhabitants, 27,000 of whom are Catholics, belonging to various ethnic groups.

The last of a string  of religious buildings targeted by the Burmese army

St. Patrick Cathedral is the last of a string of religious buildings targeted by the Burmese army since the beginning of the civil war in 2021. On March 3 the Burmese armed forces struck and destroyed the St. Michael's Catholic Church pastoral centre, also in the Banmaw Diocese. The military junta was also responsible for carrying out airstrikes that damaged the Sacred Heart Church, located in Chin State on 6 February. 

The conflict erupted after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021. Since then, resistance fighters from the Buddhist Burman ethnic majority have joined forces with long-oppressed ethnic minorities, some with substantial Christian populations.

In the past four years, human rights agencies and United Nations investigators have found evidence that security forces indiscriminately and disproportionately target civilians with bombs, carry out mass executions of people detained during operations, and perpetrate large-scale burning of civilian houses along with religious buildings which are accorded special protected status under international law.

Civilians suffering abuses from both the military junta and ethnic militias

However, the resistance itself is also facing growing scrutiny. Ethnic militias, once seen as liberators, are increasingly acting in self-interest arousing discontent among the civilian population as reported by AsiaNews agency. This is the case of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the armed wing of the Palaung ethnic group that last week imposed mandatory military conscription in the administration of Mogok in the Mandalay region it had freed from junta control, sparking protests. According to sources of AsiaNews, the TNLA has even resorted to abducting men off the streets to fill its ranks.

Another ethnic militia,  the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), has also drawn criticism. Its exploitation of local resources—such as gold mining operations run by ethnic Han Chinese workers—has triggered unrest among the Kachin population. When protests erupted over environmental degradation, MNDAA forces responded violently, killing six demonstrators.

Similarly, in Shan State, civilians have been forced to lease their lands for banana cultivation at unfair prices, further fueling resentment.

Military junta promises elections 

Meanwhile, as the fighting continues on different fronts, the military junta announced on March 10 that it would hold a long-promised election, specifying a timeframe for the first time since seizing power. However, it is unclear how the military would implement elections given that it has lost control of vast areas to a patchwork of resistance groups.

Nearly 6,400 civilians have been killed since the coup with over 28,700 arrested. The war has caused a major humanitarian crisis with nearly 20 million people in the country requiring humanitarian assistance and a third of the nation's inhabitants facing food insecurity.