Rev. Dal Thawn Tuang, assistant pastor of Lamzang Baptist Church, was shot dead in Myanmar's Chin State on September 14. International Christian Concern (ICC) and the Burma Research Institute (BRI) say the military killed him. A separate account blames escaped prisoners of war.
Tuang, 49, was on his way home to Lamzang around 4 pm after a ministry visit to a neighbouring village. He was shot three times near the Kapte bridge, and ICC reported wounds to his chest, abdomen and thigh. BRI confirmed his death.
He had served the church for 22 years and is survived by his wife and two children. His funeral took place on September 16 in the village, roughly 9 km from Tiddim town. The Tiddim Baptist Convention, in a condolence letter, called him "a faithful servant of God" but named no one as responsible.
BRI said its examination of the body pointed to a deliberate killing, not an accident.
The Irrawaddy's Burmese-language edition gave a different account, as reported by The Christian Post. It said escaped prisoners of war from the Tiddim area were behind the shooting. According to that report, about 80 military prisoners held by People's Defense Force-Zoland, a resistance group, escaped on the Sunday night before the shooting, and the two sides clashed.
ICC President Shawn Wright called the killing "a concerning trend in Myanmar (Burma)", coming after the deaths of Rev. William and Nam Ceu. He asked Christians in the West to pray for the bereaved families and the Burmese church.
Rev. Dr. John Tuan Hre Thang, an executive member of the Myanmar Evangelical Christian Alliance (MECA) and senior pastor of Every Nation Church Yangon, also reacted to the news. "We heard the sad news about Rev. Dal Thawn Tuang and we are shocked and sad for such an incident," he told Christian Today India.
ICC and BRI say soldiers killed Rev. William, who had pastored Chungcung Baptist Church for over 25 years, and Nam Ceu on June 4. Both had been in military custody since their arrest in May. Sources told BRI the pair were targeted for alleged backing of the Hakha Chinland Defense Force, an armed group fighting the junta. ICC's information does not independently verify this allegation. Chungcung has faced repeated attacks since the 2021 coup, and its church was destroyed and looted in October 2021.
BRI board chair Rev. Robin Stoops, a former associate general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, said the killing was part of a growing war on Christians. BRI President Zo Tum Hmung called such killings war crimes and crimes against humanity. He urged US President Donald Trump to recognise them formally and asked the White House to press the junta to release detained pastors and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
ICC says the military has damaged or destroyed over 340 churches and Christian-owned buildings since the coup. A report citing Open Doors figures puts the toll at 149 Christians killed and 218 imprisoned between 2022 and 2025. A BRI report from January said 21 of Thantlang town's 22 churches had been destroyed and its people displaced. According to The Christian Post, the violence has worsened since junta chief Min Aung Hlaing became president on April 10.
Chin State has a Christian majority, and most Chin people are Baptists.
