CALL FOR PEACE
Min Aung Hlaing said on Tuesday that the fatality burden had risen to 2, 719, with more than 4, 500 injured and 441 also missing.
But with uneven contact and infrastructure delaying efforts to collect information and provide aid, the true scale of the disaster has yet to be clear, and the toll is likely to increase.
Help groups say that that comment has been hindered by extended battle between the coup and the intricate patchwork of military groups opposed to its rule, which began in a 2021 coup.
Julie Bishop, the UN special envoy on Myanmar, called on all factors to “focus their work on the safety of civilians, including support staff, and the supply of life-saving support”.
Yet before Friday’s disaster, 3.5 million people were displaced by the battle, many of them at risk of poverty, according to the United Nations.
On Tuesday, an ally of three of Myanmar’s most prominent ethnic minority armed organizations announced a one-month wait in warfare to support humanitarian work in response to the collapse.
The announcement by the Three Brotherhood Alliance followed a separate partial ceasefire called by the People’s Defence Force- civilian groups that took up arms after the coup to fight junta rule.
But there have been multiple reports of junta air strikes against rebel groups since the quake.
” We are aware that some ethnic armed groups are currently not engaged in combat, but are organising and training to carry out attacks”, said Min Aung Hlaing, mentioning sabotage against the electricity supply.
” Since such activities constitute attacks, the Tatmadaw (armed forces ) will continue to carry out necessary defensive activities”, he said in a statement late on Tuesday.