Myanmar Military Kills Baptist Pastor Amid Growing Christian Persecution

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

NAYPYIDAW, MYANMAR (Worthy News) – Christians in Myanmar were mourning Sunday after the ruling military shot and killed a Baptist pastor in predominantly Christian Chin State, the latest church leader to die amid the country’s civil conflict, Christian investigators said.

Reverend Dal Thawn Tuang, 49, assistant pastor of Lamzang Baptist Church, was shot dead at about 4 p.m. local time on September 14, according to the Burma Research Institute (BRI), which monitors human rights and religious freedom in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Tuang had served at Lamzang Baptist Church for 22 years and was returning to his village after conducting religious activities in nearby Tui Tawh Village when he was shot near the Kapte Bridge, investigators said.

Sources cited by BRI said soldiers shot the pastor three times, with bullets striking his chest, abdomen and thigh.

His funeral was reportedly held September 16 in Lamzang Village, about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) from Tiddim town. He is survived by his wife and two children.

PASTOR SHOT DEAD

“Our staff is praying for Pastor Tuang’s family and his church,” said Shawn Wright, president of rights group International Christian Concern (ICC).

“Following the recent murder of Pastor William and our brother Nam Ceu, this is certainly a concerning trend in Myanmar (Burma),” Wright added. “We ask Christians in the West to lift up these grieving families in prayer and pray for the Burmese Church to be united and encouraged during the ongoing violence.”

The killing came just months after the military killed Reverend William and another Chin Christian, Nam Ceu, on June 4, according to BRI.

William had pastored Chungcung Baptist Church in Chin State for more than 25 years. He and Ceu were detained in May before being killed the following month.

Sources told BRI that the two men were accused of supporting the Hakha Chinland Defense Force (CDF), one of the armed groups fighting Myanmar’s military authorities.

CHURCH DESTROYED

BRI said Chungcung village has faced repeated military attacks since the armed forces seized power in a February 2021 coup, while Chungcung Baptist Church was destroyed and looted in October that year.

William left behind his wife and five children.

The killings come amid a wider conflict that erupted after the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering mass protests and an armed resistance that developed into a nationwide civil war.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup, has since become president under a military-backed political system, while armed resistance groups and ethnic forces continue fighting government troops across large parts of the country.

Regional bloc ASEAN has not recognized Myanmar’s current government and has continued to exclude its political leaders from high-level summits amid concerns about continuing violence and the political process.

CHRISTIANS UNDER PRESSURE

Christians have been particularly vulnerable in several conflict-hit regions, including Chin, Kachin, Shan and Kayah states and the Sagaing region, where churches and Christian communities have faced attacks, displacement and destruction.

BRI says at least 343 Christian churches and other buildings have been damaged or destroyed by the military since the 2021 coup.

Its January 2026 report, citing Open Doors figures, said 149 Christians were killed and 218 imprisoned between 2022 and 2025.

Christian advocacy group Open Doors ranks Myanmar 14th on its 2026 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it says Christians face the most severe persecution, giving the country a score of 81 out of 100.

Open Doors says Myanmar’s Christians face worsening violence, displacement and systematic targeting amid the civil war, with believers in Chin, Kachin, Shan, Kayah and Sagaing particularly vulnerable.

VIOLENCE INTENSIFIES

The organization estimates that about 4.6 million Christians live in the predominantly Buddhist nation.

Open Doors says churches have been attacked on suspicion of harboring resistance fighters, while pastors and other Christians have been detained over alleged links to opposition forces.

The violence has intensified the challenges facing Myanmar’s Christian minority as the country remains divided between the military authorities and an array of armed resistance and ethnic forces, with no lasting political settlement in sight.