FILE - Newly appointed Cardinal Charles Maung Bo prays during a religious service at St. Paul's Missionary school in suburbs of Yangon, Myanmar, Jan. 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

BANGKOK (AP) — The main organization coordinating resistance to Myanmar’s military government says its forces have arrested 10 members of a local resistance group suspected in the killing of a Catholic village priest last week in the country’s northwest.

Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, 44, is believed to be the first Catholic priest targeted for killing in the civil war that erupted after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi four years ago. He served in a village church in Shwebo township in Sagaing region, a stronghold of the armed resistance.

The Home Affairs and Immigration Ministry of the shadow National Unity Government, the leading opposition organization, said in a statement Monday that the suspects were captured by the Shwebo branch of its armed People’s Defense Force and other local resistance groups on Friday, the day of the killing.

The statement said an initial investigation found the suspects were members of a local defense force, and the shadow government’s Defense Ministry will investigate further. It said nothing about a possible motive for the attack.

The statement said the National Unity Government “strongly condemns any acts of targeting civilians, including religious leaders."

In the battle for democracy against army rule, resistance fighters from the Buddhist Burman ethnic majority have joined forces with long-oppressed ethnic minorities, some with substantial Christian populations. Buddhists make up almost 90% of Myanmar’s population, and Christians make up about 6%.

Human rights groups charge that security forces indiscriminately and disproportionately target civilians, and churches and other houses of worship including Buddhist temples have been targets of attacks including aerial bombings.

Some Christian clergy have been attacked, but the reasons often are unclear. In March last year, Baptist pastor Nammye Hkun Jaw Li was shot dead by armed men in the northern state of Kachin. One month later, Paul Hkwi Shane Aung, a parish priest in Kachin’s Mohnyin township, was shot and seriously wounded by two gunmen.

There are no previous publicized cases of resistance groups attacking Christian clergy.

Cardinal Charles Bo, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, said in a statement Sunday that the group had received the news of the priest's killing on Friday.

“May the blood and sacrifices of countless innocent people, along with Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, serve as an offering to ending the violence that is occurring throughout the nation,” the cardinal said. He urged those responsible to ensure justice is served. His statement offered no explanation for the killing.

Myanmar’s independent online media, including Myanmar Now and the Democratic Voice of Burma, reported that Ye Naing Win was stabbed by armed men in the compound of the Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Kan Gyi Taw village in Shwebo township, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Mandalay.

Myanmar Now said Ye Naing Win had been accused of being an informer for the military.

Militants have carried out targeted killings, sabotage, arson and small bombings in their campaign against military rule. Those usually targeted for killing are people believed to be informers or collaborators with the military, though they are often just local officials. Many quit their posts in response to threats.

The National Unity Government says its forces should follow a code of conduct that does not allow the killing of unarmed civilians. However, the People’s Defense Forces are loosely organized and many local resistance groups don’t feel bound by its discipline.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025