UN
04 Apr 2025

Myanmars military has continued to launch airstrikes and other attacks against opposition forces in the devastated country, one week since a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck and despite agreeing to a ceasefire, UN human rights chief Volker Trk said on Friday.

The UN chief on Thursday called for immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to Myanmar, where last weeks devastating earthquakes claimed over 3,000 lives and left millions in urgent need of aid.

Fridays devastating earthquakes in Myanmar not only caused mass casualties and widespread destruction, they also deepened long-standing gender inequalities leaving millions of women and girls at heightened risk, UN aid agencies warned on Wednesday.

In the days following the deadly earthquake that tore through central Myanmar last week, the Myanmar military continued operations and attacks, including airstrikes some of which were launched shortly after tremors subsided,saidRavina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

We urge a halt to all military operations and for the focus to be on assisting those impacted by the quake, she told journalists in Geneva, reiterating Mr. Trks call for an inclusive political solution to end more than four years of fighting sparked by the juntas February 2021 coup dtat.

Latest data from the UN human rights office,OHCHR, points to at least 61 reported attacks across Myanmar since the disaster happened, including 16 since the ceasefire announced by the military was supposed to take effect on 2 April.

A broad coalition of opposition armed groups have declared a temporary truce on offensive operations to facilitate emergency aid.

The tactics of the military known as the Tatmadaw in Myanmar include using near-silent adapted paragliders to bomb communities, said James Rodehaver, Head of OHCHRs Myanmar team:

What those are is an individual military operative who uses a hang-glider with a backpack attached to his back or to his torso with a large fan on it and he uses that to essentially paraglide using the fan as a motor over areas and drop hand-held bombs or munitions onto targets below.

Quake response

The regions most impacted by the earthquake which struck at approximately 12.50pm local time on 28 March are Mandalay the countrys second city and home to 1.2 million people Sagaing, capital Nay Pyi Taw, Bago, Magway, and eastern and southern Shan states.

Assessments have shown widespread destruction across central Myanmar to critical infrastructure including health facilities, road networks and bridges.

In an update, the UN World Health Organization also reported that electricity and water supplies remain disrupted, worsening access to health services and heightening risks of waterborne and foodborne disease outbreaks.

Massive destruction

The UN refugee agency, UNHCHR which issued an appeal for $16 million to support 1.2 million survivors said that up to 80 per cent of structures in Myanmars second city of Mandalay are estimated to have collapsed.

Spokesperson Babar Baloch explained that the UN agency has already deployed existing emergency relief including plastic sheets and kitchen sets for 25,000 survivors in Mandalay, Sagaing and Bago regions, as well as the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and parts of Shan State.

UN partner the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile reported that 136 townships have been affected by the earthquake and about 25 per cent are in areas not controlled by the Government, so that's complicating the access.

Echoing those concerns, Ms. Shamdasani from the UN human rights office said that thescale of the disaster had been made worse by the information blackout caused by internet and telecommunications shutdowns imposed by the military.