An armed resistance group opposing Myanmar's military government condemned the junta on Sunday for carrying out airstrikes on villages while the country is still reeling from an earthquake that has claimed around 1,700 lives.
As per Reuters, the Karen National Union, one of Myanmar's oldest ethnic armies, issued a statement saying the junta "continues to launch airstrikes on civilian areas, even as the population endures immense suffering 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".
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 Friday's devastating earthquake, military jets launched airstrikes 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.
"(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.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck Myanmar on Friday. The shallow earthquake was accompanied by aftershocks, which caused buildings to collapse in Bangkok, Thailand. Tremors were also felt in parts of India.
On the Richter scale, earthquakes above 7 magnitude are considered major earthquakes. Over 1,700 people have been declared dead due to the damage caused by Friday's earthquake.
On Sunday, 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.
