Top Stories 23/04/24 Junta attacks hospital as ex-UN chief ends Myanmar visit

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Junta attacks hospital as ex-UN chief ends Myanmar visit

Ban Ki-moon meets military leaders, calls for immediate cessation of violence

This handout photograph taken on April 24 and released by the Myanmar Military Information Team shows Myanmar military chief Min Aung Hlaing (right) meeting former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in Naypyidaw. The former UN chief met for talks with top officials from Myanmar's junta on April 24 as the bloody conflict engulfing the country spirals. (Photo: AFP)

By UCA News reporter

Published: April 26, 2023 08:16 AM GMT

A hospital in a village in strife-torn Myanmar’s southern Shan state was attacked and destroyed in a military airstrike, according to media reports citing local rebel forces.

The reports said some civilians in Pekhon township were wounded in the attack on April 25.

Many people were displaced and had taken refuge in a camp near the hospital, local sources said.

The bloody conflict in the Southeast Asian nation continued as former United Nations chief, Ban Ki-moon, called for an end to violence after concluding his April 23-24 visit on behalf of ‘The Elders,’ a group of elder statesmen from around the world that engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives,  

The military junta did not release information about the attack on the hospital but reports said there has been ongoing fighting on the border between Shan state and Kayah state between the military and local militia groups since March.

Pekhon township is in Pekhon diocese which covers Shan state and parts of Kayah state.

The diocese along with Loikaw diocese in neighboring Kayah state is among the worst affected by the ongoing fighting.

At least six parishes in Pekhon diocese have been abandoned, while churches, including its Sacred Heart Cathedral, have been repeatedly attacked.

Meanwhile, a village prayer hall was destroyed in an airstrike by the military in predominantly Christian Chin state on April 23, local sources said.

There was no information on casualties if any among the civilian population there.

The junta also continues raiding villages and burning homes in the Bamar heartland in the Sagaing and Magwe regions.

Meanwhile, the former UN chief met with junta leaders including military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

“I came to Myanmar to urge the military to adopt an immediate cessation of violence, and start constructive dialogue among all parties concerned,” said Ban, reading an April 25 statement from the elders group.

The former UN chief said, “My meetings were exploratory. I will do all I can to help the people of Myanmar secure the peace, prosperity and freedom they deserve.”

During the meetings, Ban stressed the urgency of making progress on the implementation of the five-point consensus by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2669.

He supported the international community’s calls for “the immediate release by the Myanmar military of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, for constructive dialogue, and for utmost restraint from all parties.”

The elder groups’ statement did not mention a meeting between Ban and Aung San Suu Kyi, the jailed former civilian leader, or the National Unity Government, a government in exile established by former parliamentarians and some ethnic groups.