Baptist Pastor Fatally Shot in Myanmar’s Chin State

Reverend Dal Thawn Tuang, a 49-year-old assistant pastor at Lamzang Baptist Church, was fatally shot on September 14 while traveling near the Kapte bridge in Myanmar’s Chin State. According to reports, the pastor sustained three gunshot wounds to his chest, abdomen, and thigh. His funeral was held in Lamzang village on September 16.

Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding the identity of the perpetrators. The Burma Research Institute (BRI) has attributed the killing to Myanmar’s military forces. Conversely, the resistance group PDF-Zoland stated that the gunmen were military prisoners who had escaped from their custody the day prior to the incident. The Tiddim Baptist Convention, which oversees the pastor's congregation, issued a condolence letter honoring his 22 years of service without specifying the identity of the attackers.

This incident occurs within the context of ongoing civil conflict in Myanmar following the 2021 military coup. Chin State, which maintains a Christian majority, has frequently been a site of violence. The BRI reports that hundreds of churches have been damaged or destroyed since the coup, and it links this death to the earlier killings of other local Christian leaders.