An armed resistance movement against the military government of Myanmar criticized the junta on Sunday to perform air strikes on villages, even while the land of an earthquake comes that killed around 1,700 people.
The Karen National Union, one of the oldest ethnic armies in Myanmar, said in a statement that the Junta “continues to perform air strikes aimed at civil areas, even if the population suffers enormously from the earthquake”.
The group said that under normal circumstances the army would give priority to auxiliary efforts, but instead is aimed at “using forces to attack its people”.
A spokesperson for the Junta did not answer questions from Reuters about the criticism.
Myanmar is locked up in the civil war with several armed opposition groups since a coup of 2021, when the army seized the power of the chosen government of the Nobel Prize Aung Aung San Suu Kyi.
Shortly after Friday’s devastating earthquake, military jets launched air strikes and drone attacks in the state of Karen, near the Knu headquarters, according to the Free Burma Rangers, an aid organization.
The epicenter of the earthquake of 7.7 Magnitude was in an area held by Junta troops, but the destruction is widespread and has also influenced a number of territory by armed resistance movements.
On Sunday, the opposition National Unity Government, which includes remains of the government that were expelled in 2021, that anti-junta militia would pause all attacking military action for two weeks under its command.
Richard Horsey, the senior Myanmar advisor at Crisis Group, said that some anti-junta troops have stopped their offensives, but fighting continues elsewhere.
“The regime also continues to launch air strikes, also in affected areas. That must stop,” he said.
He added that the regime did not offer much visible support in areas with quake hit.
“Local fire brigades, ambulance teams and community organizations have mobilized, but the army – which would normally be mobilized to support in such a crisis – is nowhere to be seen,” said Horsey.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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