Myanmar’s military fired on a Chinese Red Cross convoy trying to deliver food and medicine to desperate survivors of the massive earthquake in Myanmar, highlighting the dangers aid groups face from the country’s ongoing civil war.
The military said Wednesday that its soldiers had opened fire on vehicles carrying relief supplies in the war-torn northern Shan State after the convoy had failed to notify them of its presence in advance. Armed rebel groups also said the military has launched scores of airstrikes since Friday’s 7.7-magnitude temblor, which killed at least 2,700, killing dozens of civilians.
Although the shadow government in exile, known as the National Unity Government, and an alliance of three rebel groups announced cease-fires in the wake of the earthquake, the military, which seized power in a coup four years ago, has indicated that it will not stop hostilities. The fierce civil war had already caused widespread suffering before the earthquake, which killed at least 2,700 and left millions of people with little food and water.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of Myanmar’s junta, said in a statement on Tuesday night that military operations will continue as “necessary protective measures” despite the earthquake.
“There’s nothing necessary nor protective about attacking people trying to help people,” said Tom Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar. “Continuing to launch military offenses is just outrageous.”
On Tuesday around 9.30 p.m., the military fired at a Chinese Red Cross convoy near Ummati village in northern Shan State, according to Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesman for Myanmar’s military.
An armed rebel group, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, which was part of the rebel alliance that declared a one-month cease-fire, said that the convoy was traveling toward the central city of Mandalay, near the epicenter of the earthquake.
Gen. Zaw Min Tun said that when the convoy was spotted, soldiers tried to block its path but it did not stop. Flashlights were used to signal it from about 100 to 200 meters (yards) away, but it continued moving. At around 100 meters, soldiers fired shots into the air three times.
“Since this region is an active conflict zone with ongoing battles between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the military, failure to notify could have led to misidentification as a hostile entity,” Gen. Zaw Min Tun said.
The Red Cross Society of China did not respond to requests for comment. China, which has close relations with Myanmar, was one of the first countries to respond to the earthquake, deploying search-and-rescue teams and sending about $14 million in emergency aid.
At least 15 countries, including the United States and Russia, have sent aid. In recent days, international aid groups such as the World Food Program and UNICEF have entered Mandalay and neighboring Sagaing. But Taiwan has said its offer of a 126-member rescue team was declined by Myanmar.
Tayzar San, a pro-democracy activist from Mandalay, accused the military junta of “trying to use this disaster for political gain” instead of focusing on “effective rescue efforts.”
Locals in both cities have complained that attempts to help have been blocked by the military.
Ko Thein Swe said he and his charity group traveled from Thaton in Mon state with food and medicine and seeking to help search and rescue missions. But while en route to Mandalay on Sunday, they were told at a military checkpoint that they could not proceed without permission and were only able to pass through by paying the soldiers.
“At a time when so many people are suffering, not only do they refuse to help, but they don’t even have the basic human decency to let others assist,” Mr. Thein Swe said.
Myanmar has been at war since the army seized power in a coup in 2021. The junta, which controls the urban areas, has lost large swaths of land to the powerful ethnic armies on the borders, and parts of the region of Sagaing to ordinary citizens who took up arms against the junta.
The army has continued to bomb parts of the country since the disaster. Mr. Tayzar, the activist, said the army has launched over 100 airstrikes in the past week, including in earthquake-affected areas, citing contacts on the ground.
On Tuesday around 5.30 p.m., 38 young trainees of the Kachin Independence Army, an armed group battling the military in northern Myanmar, were killed in an airstrike in Kachin State, according to Colonel Naw Bu, the spokesman of the group.
Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s decision to rule out any cease-fire is an indication of how weak his regime and military are, said Richard Horsey, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group.
“It seems that they dare not relent,” Mr. Horsey said in a statement. “But it means that, once again, they are putting regime survival above the interests of the people, even at a time of calamity.”
Chris Buckley contributed reporting from Taipei, and Claire Fu from Seoul.
Sui-Lee Wee is the Southeast Asia bureau chief for The Times, overseeing coverage of 11 countries in the region. More about Sui-Lee Wee
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