Sculptor Aung Naing Lin has spent decades carving Buddha statues to help guide Myanmar's faithful — but getting the marble he needs from rebel-held quarries in the midst of civil war is now a perilous task.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar has been mired in bloody conflict since the military toppled the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, terminating a 10-year experiment with democracy and sparking a widespread armed uprising.
In recent months, opponents of the military have advanced with rocket and drone attacks on Mandalay — the country's second-biggest city, with a population of 1.5 million.
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