Amid earthquake crisis Myanmar military still bombs towns

NAYPYITAW - An armed resistance movement against Myanmar’s military-run government criticised the junta on March 30 for conducting air strikes on villages, even as the country reels from an earthquake that has killed around 1,700 people.

The Karen National Union (KNU),one of Myanmar’s oldest ethnic armies, said in a statement that the junta “continues to carry out air strikes targeting civilian areas, even as the population suffers tremendously from the earthquake”.

The group said that under normal circumstances, the military would be prioritising relief efforts, but instead is focused on “deploying forces to attack its people”.

A spokesman for the junta did not reply to queries from Reuters about the criticism.

Myanmar has been locked in civil war with multiple armed opposition groups since a 2021 coup, when the military seized power from the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Shortly after March 28’s devastating earthquake, military jets launched air strikes and drone attacks in Karen state near the KNU headquarters, according to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation.

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan called for an immediate ceasefire to help aid distribution, following a virtual meeting with his Asean counterparts on the disaster.

“(Dr Balakrishnan) called for an immediate and effective ceasefire in Myanmar which would facilitate the efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance and longer term national reconciliation, peace and reconstruction,” Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude quake was in an area held by junta forces, but the devastation is widespread and also affected some territory held by armed resistance movements.

On March 30, the opposition National Unity Government, which includes remnants of the government ousted in 2021, said anti-junta militias under its command would pause all offensive military action for two weeks.

Mr Richard Horsey,