A Catholic priest was arrested by the military in the Diocese of Bhamo in Myanmar on Friday, May 14.
Reports from Radio Veritas Asia said soldiers arrested Father Columban Lar Di in the city of Bhamo in Kachin state.
The soldiers reportedly arrested the priest after discovering his name on a mobile phone that contains a list of donors to the Civil Disobedience Movement.
The priest used to be director of the youth in the Diocese of Bhamo. He is currently parish priest of Prang Hku Dung parish in Bhamo.
On Saturday, Myanmar’s army battled local militia fighters in the northwestern town of Mindat to try to quell a rebellion that has sprung up to oppose the junta which seized power in February.
The fighting in Mindat, Chin state, underlines the growing chaos in Myanmar as the junta struggles to impose its authority in the face of daily protests, strikes and sabotage attacks.
“We are running for our lives,” one resident told Reuters from Mindat, a hill town just over 100 km (60 miles) from the border with India.
“There are around 20,000 people trapped in town, most of them are kids, old people,” the resident added. “My friend’s three nieces were hit by shrapnel. They are not even teens.”
The junta imposed martial law in Mindat on Thursday and then stepped up attacks on what it called “armed terrorists.”
At least 788 people have been killed by the junta’s security forces in crackdowns on protests against its rule.
The military, which disputes that number, imposes tight restrictions on media, information and the Internet.
The army took power in February alleging fraud in an election won by Suu Kyi’s party in November. Its claims of irregularities were rejected by the electoral commission. – with a report from Reuters
Source: Licas Philippines
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