According to pastors from the Sai Toung Baptist Church in Hpakant Township, Kachin State the Burma Army searched their church compound saying that they were looking for bombs on 31 March.
During the two hour search the army also searched church employees’ homes, a pastor’s home, refugee shelters and a training school building.
Pastor Yoal Htwel, the headmaster of the training school told MID News: “The army searched everywhere, they opened boxes in the men’s hostel and they also searched the women’s hostel too.
U Tu Mai, a local administrator, said that the soldiers might have carried out the search because a bomb had recently been set off in the area. He thought another reason for the search might be because people had shot at the army camp from the hill where the church is located during fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burma Army in 2011.
Though the residents of the church compound were scared by the search they have not yet complained to any authorities.
The relevant ward administrators and household leaders were also involved in the search.
Media Initiatives for Democracy (MID) is one of the joint program of Burma New International (BNI) & Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
