According to civil society sources, militias associated with the Burmese military dictatorship operating in Kachin state are using church grounds for military purposes. The U.S.-based Burma Research Institute (BRI) verified reports of a militia graduation ceremony at Nant Mun Baptist Church in Mohnyin Township. A building of St. Joseph’s Catholic church was also being used as a militia headquarters, and militia troops ransacked another building in the same complex. The Kachin ethnic community is made up mostly of Christians, and Kachin State stands out in Myanmar for its unusually strong Christian demography.