Catholic church hit in ongoing fighting in Shan State

08 December 2016
Catholic church hit in ongoing fighting in Shan State
A picture made available on 23 November 2016 of Myanmar refugee children playing soccer near their refugee camp close to the border of China and Myanmar by the Wanding river in Yunnan province of southwest China, 22 November 2016. Photo: EPA

A Catholic church was hit in conflict-torn northern Shan state as renewed fighting intensified between the Myanmar military and armed ethnic groups, ucanews.com reported.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Mongkoe Township near the Chinese border was hit by airstrikes on 3 December. Ucanews.com reported that the parish priest, nuns and some 1,000 Catholics from the area had already fled to China. No one was hurt by the morning raid that caused fires to burn well into the afternoon.
Bishop Philip Lasap Za Hawng of Lashio called on the government to negotiate with all the armed groups, ucanews.com reported.
“We need all the armed groups to participate in peace talks,” he said.