A newly constructed Catholic church in northwestern Myanmar was destroyed in an airstrike launched by the Burmese military, amid escalating clashes with resistance forces in Chin State.
The Church of Christ the King in the town of Falam, part of the Diocese of Hakha, was hit on April 8 during intensified aerial bombardments following nine months of fighting in the area.
According to sources cited by the Vatican’s Fides News Agency, the church’s roof and interior were devastated, though its outer walls remain standing.
“There is now great sadness in the community, but also a desire and determination to rebuild,” a diocesan source told Fides. The attack occurred in a region where electricity and communications remain disrupted due to ongoing conflict.
Consecrated only in November 2023, the church had replaced a 75-year-old chapel and was built over several years through what Fides described as “painstaking effort and sacrifice.”
It served around 1,000 Catholics, offering a spiritual refuge amid civil unrest. Its destruction marks a significant blow to the community.
The strike came as the military launched air and artillery assaults on Falam following the town’s takeover by the Chinland Defense Force (CDF), a local militia resisting the military junta.
After forcing government troops to retreat, the CDF gained control of the town, prompting retaliatory attacks from the air.
The bombardment also affected other civilian targets, including homes and religious sites. In a separate incident in the municipality of Mindat, shelling killed a 36-year-old Protestant pastor, two children aged eight months and seven years, and two other civilians.
Ten buildings—including the local Christian church—were destroyed, and nine others were injured.
In February, the military also struck the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Mindat, which was set to become the cathedral of the newly established Diocese of Mindat, created by Pope Francis on January 25.
The Human Rights Organization of Chin State has documented the destruction of at least 107 religious buildings in the region, including 67 churches, since 2021—part of a broader pattern of military attacks amid Myanmar’s ongoing civil war.
