On 9 February, the Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO) issued a press release calling attention to airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar junta on churches, Buddhist religious buildings, and civilian neighbourhoods in Chin State this month, killing civilians and damaging protected sites.

CHRO said junta jet fighters launched coordinated aerial attacks on 8 February across Kanpetlet, Mindat and Matupi townships, striking villages and towns where civilians were sheltering.

In Chinpiang village in Matupi Township, airstrikes hit a Baptist church while worshippers were gathered for Sunday services, killing at least three civilians, including a child, and injuring others, the group said. The blasts also damaged a school and nearby homes.

On the same day, strikes in Mindat town damaged a Buddhist Dhamma Hall and injured a monk, while residential areas in Kanpetlet town were also bombed, destroying at least five houses, according to the statement.

The group said the latest attacks followed earlier bombardments in January, including airstrikes that damaged Catholic and Baptist churches in Lente village, Falam Township.

Between 1 January and 8 February, CHRO documented at least seven civilian deaths, including three children, more than 20 injuries, and the destruction or damage of religious buildings, schools, a hospital and more than 60 civilian homes.

“These airstrikes represent a direct assault on freedom of religion or belief,” CHRO executive director Salai Za Uk Ling said in the release. He described the attacks as part of a systematic pattern rather than isolated incidents.

CHRO also accused foreign suppliers of enabling the junta’s air campaign, citing a recent Reuters investigation that reported Iranian aviation fuel shipments had reached Myanmar despite international sanctions.

“Iranian aviation fuel is directly enabling attacks on religious communities,” Salai Za Uk Ling said, calling on the international community to impose sanctions on aviation fuel supply chains and to hold those involved accountable.

The junta has increasingly relied on air power to target resistance-led areas since its coup in 2021. Rights groups say airstrikes have intensified amid growing battlefield losses for the military.

Under international humanitarian law, religious buildings are protected civilian objects, and intentional or indiscriminate attacks against them may constitute war crimes.