The battle has been reported in Myanmar, despite the military regime and the alliance of rebel groups announced a temporary ceasefire to help with earthquake relief.
As of Friday, the military had made at least 14 attacks since the ceasefire, according to a report received by the UN Human Rights Office.
The military condemned two rebel groups in the alliance and declared a ceasefire to launch attacks. One group said combat broke out in response to a “attack” by the military.
Military Council spokesman Ms Zaw Minh Tung issued a general statement saying, “We will respond if a military base is attacked for no reason.” An Army spokesman did not respond to BBC Burmese’s request for comment.
Following the 7.7 magnitude Quake on March 28, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for a “stop all military operations” and a focus on “ensuring unhindered access to those affected by Quake and ensuring unhindered access to humanitarian organisations.”
A civil war is underway between the military junta that took power in the 2021 coup, and national militias and resistance departments across the country.
The Military Council declared a 20-day ceasefire on April 2nd after an alliance made up of three rebel groups announced one.
Official deaths from the earthquake in Myanmar rose to 3,564 on Monday, according to state media. Another 5,012 people are injured and 210 remain missing.
More than a week after the earthquake, rescuers had recovered the bodies from the tiled rubs of a collapsed Mandalay building over the weekend, state media reported.
The rain fell over the weekend as well. He said this could hinder relief efforts by aid groups.
The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday that humanitarian efforts have been underway in areas where access was granted, but “long-standing restrictions imposed by the military on humanitarian operations and access mean that “multiple negatively affected areas” cannot access humanitarian emergency assistance except for those that residents can organize locally.”
People said “We need food. They need water. They need water. They need back. They say they need shelter,” UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a video shot in Mandalay on Saturday.
Aftershocks continued, with earthquakes recorded over the weekend of 4.9 and people “live with that trauma,” he said.
He added that about 20 million people were already struggling in the community prior to the earthquake.
“So it’s a compound interest crisis. It’s an earthquake, in addition to conflict, plus the big existing needs,” he said.
