A temporary ceasefire declared by Myanmar’s military junta on Wednesday has not stopped it from carrying out air and ground attacks less than 24 hours later, according to anti-regime forces.
The three-week ceasefire was announced amid growing criticism of the junta’s military operations around the country in the days after last week’s massive earthquake in central Myanmar, which has killed at least 3,000 people and left many others homeless.
“Out of compassion for the earthquake-affected people and to facilitate swift humanitarian and reconstruction operations, the Tatmadaw hereby declares a temporary ceasefire from April 2-22,” the regime said in a statement, referring to Myanmar’s military by its formal name.
However, fighting continued on Thursday in parts of Kachin State, where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) reported airstrikes and ground offensives in several areas, according to its spokesperson, Col. Naw Bu.
“We saw that they released a ceasefire statement. However, the fighting hasn’t stopped,” he said, noting that the military carried out airstrikes in Bhamo and Indawgyi townships and ground offensives in Waingmaw Township, near the state capital Myitkyina, on Wednesday.
“The airstrikes in Bhamo started yesterday and continued until around 6:30 this morning,” he told Myanmar Now on Thursday. He declined to provide details on the exact locations of the attacks or casualty figures.
Asked about how the KIA’s response, he said: “If they attack, of course we will defend ourselves by fighting back. So we expect there will be more fighting.”
Meanwhile, anti-regime forces based west of the area that was hardest hit by the March 28 earthquake say that the junta has used a two-week ceasefire declared earlier this week by the National Unity Government (NUG) to strengthen its hold over the strategically important Monywa-Mandalay road.
“They’ve sent a significant number of reinforcements into the Myinmu, Chaung-U, and Monywa areas,” said Thant, the information officer for the Chaung-U Township People’s Defence Organisation (PDO), which operates under the command of the NUG’s Ministry of Defence.
Sagaing Region’s Myinmu and Chaung-U townships are located between the Sagaing capital Monywa, where the junta’s Northwestern Regional Military Command is headquartered, and Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city and the site of massive devastation from last week’s quake.
The 80-mile road linking Monywa and Mandalay has been a frequent target of resistance attacks, as it is used not only for junta troop movements, but also to transport copper from the controversial Letpadaung mine in Salingyi Township, near Monywa.
Local resistance groups say the junta now appears to be trying to gain complete control over this corridor while NUG forces have paused their offensives.
“Previously, when their convoys passed through, we would position ourselves for ambushes and mine attacks. Since the [NUG] Defence Ministry issued the [ceasefire] statement, however, we have refrained from mining and attacking, so they are acting more boldly,” said Sun Ye, an officer of the Myinmu Township PDO.
On Monday evening, regime forces stationed at checkpoints along the Monywa-Mandalay road raided Alakkappa, a village in Myinmu Township about 30 miles from the earthquake’s epicentre, forcing residents to flee. On the same night, junta paramotors dropped five bombs near Nwekhway, a village in Chaung-U Township close to the Monywa-Mandalay road, according to Sun Ye.
Since the earthquake, junta attacks have been reported in various locations around the country, including Tanintharyi Region and Rakhine, Kachin, Karenni, and Shan states, killing dozens of people.
On Monday, an airstrike targeting young people travelling to Kachin State to receive military training under the KIA left at least 38 dead, sources there said.
