Death toll from Myanmar earthquake rises to 3,145
The regime reported the earthquake death toll at 3,145 on Friday morning, including 2,053 in Mandalay Region, followed by Naypyitaw with 511, Sagaing Region with 471 and southern Shan State with 66. Many are still missing.
Anti-junta banners greet Min Aung Hlaing at BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok
Banners opposing Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing were hung Thursday on a bridge over the Chao Phraya River near the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, where the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit is taking place.
Min Aung Hlaing, who arrived in Bangkok on Thursday to attend the BIMSTEC Summit at the invitation of the Thai prime minister, was greeted with the banners reading “We do not welcome murderer Min Aung Hlaing.”
In addition, Spring Revolution strike committees have urged Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand to stage a one-day work stoppage and wear black clothing as a form of protest against the coup leader. Read more
Junta Boss Reaffirms Election Plans While Myanmar Reels From Earthquake
Myanmar’s junta boss Min Aung Hlaing reaffirmed his general election plans during his first visit to Bangkok since the 2021 coup, despite the earthquake damage.
Min Aung Hlaing met Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Thursday on the sidelines of the regional BIMSTEC summit, which concludes on Friday.
Min Aung Hlaing told Sharma about Myanmar’s preparations to hold a general election in December, state-run media reported.
Western countries, the civilian National Unity Government and other anti-regime groups say any election organized by the regime will be a sham to maintain the military’s grip on power. Read more
Thai PM, junta boss hold talks at BIMSTEC
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has held separate talks with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on the sidelines of the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, which concludes on Friday.
The visit marked Min Aung Hlaing’s first visit to Thailand since the military coup over four years ago. He previously met the Thai prime minister last year in China. After his arrival in Bangkok, protests erupted with banners reading “We do not welcome murderer Min Aung Hlaing” displayed near the hotel where the summit is taking place.
The junta boss’ attendance has sparked protests from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and other local and international rights groups, who condemned the invitation, saying the Myanmar junta is responsible for grave human rights violations including the killing of thousands of civilians, arbitrary arrests, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Indian PM Modi, junta boss hold talks at BIMSTEC
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok on Friday. On X, Modi expressed his condolences on the loss of life and damage to property in the wake of the recent earthquake and said India is doing whatever is possible to assist Myanmar.
“We also discussed bilateral relations between India and Myanmar, particularly in sectors like connectivity, capacity building, infrastructure development and more,” he wrote.
UN Chief Appeals for Global Aid as Myanmar Quake Devastation Worsens
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging swift international funding and unrestricted humanitarian access to Myanmar following last week’s catastrophic earthquake. He has dispatched Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher to the country, while UN envoy Julie Bishop will soon visit to “reinforce peace and dialogue efforts.”
Amid ‘ceasefire’, junta bombs Sagaing, Mandalay villages, launches raids
Two junta paramotors from the Northwestern Regional Command carried out six bomb attacks on two villages in Kani Township, Yinmarbin District, Sagaing Region at noon on Thursday, hours after the regime declared a so-called ceasefire for 20 days to allow earthquake relief operations.
Additionally, Mandalay Region’s Taung Tha Village was targeted with aerial bombings by paramotors and Sagaing’s Homalin was also bombed by junta aircraft on Thursday, the National Unity Government’s Defense Ministry reported. Regime troops also launched raids into Naung-U Township of Mandalay on the same day.
The ministry denounced the attacks as further proof that the junta’s ceasefire declaration was a mere deception. Several regime airstrikes have targeted civilians and resistance groups in quake-hit areas.
The National Unity Consultative Council reported that in the first five days after the quake, the regime launched 32 airstrikes on 11 locations, including quake-hit Sagaing and Mandalay regions, killing at least 50 civilians and injuring 49. The NUG and ethnic armed groups earlier announced ceasefires.
Junta conducts at least 14 attacks since announcing ceasefire: UN
Myanmar’s military has conducted dozens of attacks since the devastating earthquake hit the country last week, and at least 14 since a temporary truce was announced this week, the UN said Friday.
The UN rights office “has received reports that the military has carried out at least 53 attacks, including strikes by aircraft and drones, artillery and paramotors in areas affected by the earthquake,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.
Singapore sends 34-member medical team to quake-hit Myanmar
Singapore’s Ministry of Health dispatched a 34-member emergency medical team on Thursday to provide humanitarian assistance in Myanmar in the wake of last week’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake. The team comprises doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, as well as personnel with technical and logistical expertise, the ministry said on Thursday. The team is expected to be on site for the next 14 days.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung said the team will head to Yamethin Township outside Naypyitaw to begin the operation, dubbed Falconwing. He added that the members include six doctors, 10 nurses—including two midwives—a clinical psychologist, a physiotherapist and a clinical operations officer.
Resistance fighters deliver quake relief supplies in Sagaing
The resistance People’s Defense Force in Sagaing, at the epicenter of last week’s devastating earthquake, is helping deliver relief supplies donated by the people to quake victims.
The parallel National Unity Government on Friday said the goods are being delivered by the Sagaing’ PDF’s Shwebo District Battalion 17.
WHO sends medical aid to quake-hit Myanmar
The World Health Organization said it has scaled up its emergency health response with over 60 tons of medical supplies, including medical tents, surgical kits and essential medicines in quake-hit Mandalay and Naypyitaw.
The tents are equipped with beds, basic treatment and sanitation zones. The kits are enabling thousands of patients to receive care for crush injuries, lacerations, infections and other complications resulting from building collapses and delayed treatment.
Myanmar Earthquake Didn’t Spare Naypyitaw’s Elite Enclaves
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was in his office in Naypyitaw when the powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar last Friday.
“I took half the table” to protect himself, he recalled at a junta-organized donation event for earthquake victims four days later. “Then my security team suggested going outside, so I went and stood outside for about an hour.”
That restful hour for the junta boss turned Myanmar’s second-largest city Mandalay and Sagaing into hell, killing and wounding people and trapping hundreds beneath the rubble.
The earthquake also caused widespread destruction in Naypyitaw Union Territory, which is under the direct authority of Min Aung Hlaing. According to locals, it damaged government buildings, roads, bridges, employee housing, hospitals, hotels, dams, apartments, and other official facilities, resulting in hundreds of casualties. Read more
Interpol Urged to Apprehend Min Aung Hlaing in Thailand Over Genocide Charges
An Argentinian court has asked Interpol for notification if Min Aung Hlaing is found in any member state, so it can formally request extradition of the Myanmar junta chief, according to the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK).
The request came after the group informed the court of Min Aung Hlaing’s trip to Thailand to attend the BIMSTEC summit on Thursday and Friday. Thailand has been a member of INTERPOL since 1951.
Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government has also urged Interpol to arrest the junta leader in Thailand, the home affairs minister told PVTV on Thursday.
“Min Aung Hlaing has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and atrocities against the people. These acts are well known by both the citizens of Myanmar and the international community. The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) is seeking an arrest warrant [against him] and Argentina has also issued an arrest warrant. Therefore, it is essential for Interpol and its member countries to act swiftly and decisively in apprehending him as part of international efforts to hold accountable those who commit such crimes,” the NUG minister was quoted as saying.
Argentina issued an international arrest warrant for the regime leader in February over his alleged role in genocide.
MNDAA to retreat from Lashio under heightened pressure from China
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) has decided to withdraw its troops from the northern Shan State capital Lashio due to intensifying pressure from China and the Myanmar military, sources close to the ethnic army told The Irrawaddy. The decision came after Beijing threatened to close all borders to MNDAA-liberated areas in northern Shan State again, while the junta threatened aerial bombardments.
China upped the pressure after Chinese-brokered talks about Lashio between the ethnic army and the regime last month came to nothing.
Four Mandalay prisoners killed by earthquake: rights group
Four prisoners were killed by last week’s earthquake in Mandalay’s Obo Prison, the Political Prisoners Network Myanmar reported on Friday. Two women’s blocks, women’s hospital buildings, a men’s workshop and some prison walls collapsed. More than 40 prisoners were injured, nine seriously, it said. The regime denied treatment at outside hospitals. Family members are not allowed to visit the wounded, and the prison is short of antiseptic, bandages and other medicines, said the group.
