More than 30 Buddhist monks were told to pack their robes and leave their monastery in Kyaytee Township, Shan State, last week when two battalions of Myanmar soldiers arrived and decided to set up camp inside the religious building, according to a statement by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF).
The Shan NGO said that government troops took over the monastery from June 23 til July 2 after the 252 and 569 battalions engaged in hostilities with the Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) at the village of Wanwat in central Shan State.
“The soldiers set up a temporary camp at the monastery, so the monks had to leave,” SHRF representative Sai Khe Sai told Mizzima. “This is an infringement on Buddhist religion.
The announcement pointed out that government troops were occupying the monastery at the same time as President Thein Sein was defending nationalist Buddhist monks against allegations in a TIME magazine article.
In the village of Wanwat, four persons were injured while seven houses and a monastery were destroyed by Myanmar army heavy weapons fire.
SHRF reported that government soldiers seized rice, oil, money and other objects of value from local residents and from the monastery.
