UN sees ‘significant slowdown’ in Myanmar fighting since truce

We hope that does translate into a cessation of hostilities across the board, says UN official; devastation wreaked by quake was probably the second most deadly disaster since 1900: Official

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Fighting has slowed significantly in quake-hit Myanmar since a temporary truce began last week, the UN said on Tuesday, urging a complete pause to hostilities to deliver aid and allow recovery work to begin.

A multi-sided conflict has engulfed Myanmar since 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing’s military wrested power from the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Following reports of sporadic clashes even after the March 28 quake that so far has killed more than 3,600 people, the junta joined its opponents last week in seeking a temporary halt to hostilities to help deliver aid.

But the UN noted reports of the military continuing to carry out strikes even after the truce.

“Even after the announcement of the unilateral ceasefire, there have been military actions,” said Titan Mitra, a representative of the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in Myanmar.

“We’re not necessarily seeing a complete cessation of hostilities,” he told journalists in Geneva, speaking from Mandalay in Myanmar. But, he added, there had certainly been “a very, very significant slowdown and we hope that does translate into a cessation of hostile facilities across the board”.