Myanmar’s military junta continued bombing parts of the war-torn country even as the most powerful earthquake in over a century left hundreds dead and millions displaced.
The 7.7 magnitude earthquake, which struck central Myanmar on Friday and also sent powerful jolts into neighbouring China and Thailand, has killed at least 1,644 people and injured 3,400, with military-run government still assessing the full extent of the disaster.
The earthquake was the biggest to hit Myanmar since 1912, according to the United States Geological Survey, and has devastated civilian infrastructure including the main highway running up the spine of the country. Many of the worst-hit areas have still not been reached by official agencies, with most rescue efforts being conducted by local residents removing rubble by hand.
The UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said at least three government airstrikes were carried out on the largely rebel-controlled Sagaing region, the epicentre of the earthquake, hours after it struck on Friday. “I’m calling upon the junta to just stop, stop any of its military operations. This is completely outrageous and unacceptable,” he told BBC Burmese.
The Irrawaddy News also reported that the military conducted airstrikes on civilians in Chaung-U Township in Sagaing on Friday evening, just two hours after the earthquake struck.
The National Unity Government (NUG), the government in exile which represents the Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian administration ousted in a 2021 coup, denounced the military as “inhumane” for launching strikes during an unprecedented national disaster.
NUG spokesperson Zaw Kyaw told The Independent it was “beyond words” that the junta was “taking advantage” of the earthquake to strike targets in rebel-controlled areas of Myanmar.
“Myanmar has been hit hard by the strongest earthquake in modern Myanmar’s history, with loss of lives, many missing, and millions impacted,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been hearing and seeing reports that our military junta, even just hours after the devastating earthquakes hit, is still carrying out airstrikes against civilian targets in resistance-controlled liberated areas”, he said.
“It is unbelievable. It is inhumane – inhumane from that military and its leaders. And it’s not surprising that they don’t care about people’s lives.”
The NUG on Saturday evening announced a unilateral pause on all “offensive military operations, except for defensive actions” in areas affected by the earthquake, beginning from Sunday.
The announcement said its armed wing, the People’s Defence Force, would “collaborate with the UN and non-governmental organisations to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps” in the areas it controls.
“We call on all ethnic groups and citizens to actively co-operate with the NUG and revolutionary forces in providing comprehensive emergency rescue and relief assistance to the earthquake victims,” the statement said.
The earthquake on Friday forced the junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing to issue a rare appeal for international aid and the military has allowed foreign governments to send their own aid workers into the country for the first time since the 2021 coup.
Julie Bishop, the UN secretary-general’s special envoy on Myanmar, urged both sides to cease hostilities so that aid could reach those impacted by the earthquake.
Speaking to The Australian on Saturday, the former Australian government minister warned that the disaster would further worsen an already critical situation for the people of Myanmar.
“The situation has now become even more urgent and disastrous and I call upon all the parties to the conflict to cease all violence now so we can focus our attention and resources and effort on assisting those people in desperate need.”
The Independent has reached out to Myanmar’s foreign ministry for comment.
