Myanmar's Ruling Military Breaches Truce Amid Earthquake Recovery: UN (image @UNReliefChief)

Mandalay, Myanmar: The United Nations denounced Myanmar’s governing military for breaching the temporary truce in the civil war that was declared following the deadly earthquake last month. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that the military attacks on armed resistance groups occurred when “the sole focus should be on ensuring humanitarian aid gets to disaster zones.”

The ceasefire was declared after the March 28 earthquake which killed more than 3,600 people. It was expected to last until April 22. Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that “military forces have reportedly carried out over 120 attacks…more than half of them after their declared ceasefire was due to have gone into effect on 2 April.”

Also Read: Death Toll In Myanmar Earthquake Raises To Over 3,300

Since 2021, Myanmar has been engulfed in a multi-sided conflict. It started when Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s military declared a coup and wrested power from the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said, “calls on the military to remove any and all obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian assistance and to cease military operations,” as quoted by Al Jazeera.

UN said most of these attacks involved aerial and artillery strikes, according to Shamdasani, “including in areas impacted by the earthquake.”

“Numerous strikes have been reported in populated areas, many of them appearing to amount to indiscriminate attacks and to breach the principle of proportionality in international humanitarian law,” Shamdasani stated.

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Adding further, she said that areas at the epicentre of the quake in Sagaing, particularly those controlled by opponents of the military, “have had to rely on local community responses for search and rescue, and to meet basic needs.” She also urged the military to announce a full amnesty for detainees it has imprisoned since February 2021, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint.

(With inputs from agencies)