UN: Myanmar junta continuing military operations despite declared ceasefire

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - People cry over family members killed in a bombardment carried out by Myanmar's military in Thabeikkyin Township in Mandalay Region of Central Myanmar on April 19, 2025. — AFP pic

BANGKOK, 25 April — Myanmar’s junta has continued a deadly military campaign, including airstrikes and artillery assaults, despite announcing a ceasefire after a major earthquake killed thousands in March, according to the United Nations and data from a crisis monitor.

The 28 March quake, the worst natural disaster to hit the impoverished nation in decades, triggered a multinational relief effort to support hundreds of thousands already devastated by conflict and prompted repeated international calls to halt the fighting.

On 2 April, following similar moves by opposition armed groups, Myanmar’s military announced a 20-day ceasefire to support humanitarian relief. On Tuesday, it said the temporary cessation had been extended until 30 April after rare high-level talks led by Malaysia’s prime minister.

However, unpublished figures from the United Nations show that the fighting has continued unabated, and a Reuters analysis of data provided by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project found the frequency of junta aerial attacks has increased since the ceasefire announcement, compared to the six months prior.

A junta spokesperson did not respond to multiple calls from Reuters seeking comment.

Between 28 March and 24 April, the military launched at least 207 attacks, including 140 airstrikes and 24 artillery barrages, according to data from the UN Human Rights Office, based on reports it had received.

More than 172 attacks have taken place since the ceasefire began, with 73 of them occurring in areas devastated by the earthquake.

“It’s business as usual,” said James Rodehaver, head of the United Nations Office on Human Rights in Myanmar.

“The ceasefire should have involved stopping all military activity and repurposing your military to support the humanitarian response — and that has not happened.”

Myanmar has been in crisis since the military seized power in February 2021, toppling the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

A brutal junta crackdown on the opposition ignited a spiralling civil war, including in the previously peaceful central heartlands where protesters took up arms.

Civilian targets

Two weeks into the ceasefire, junta aircraft flew over South Kan Ma Yaik village in southeastern Karen state on 16 April, during Burmese New Year celebrations, and dropped bombs that killed a pregnant woman and her unborn baby north of the settlement, an eyewitness told Reuters.

“The first bomb exploded near her house. Then she braced her children for a second bomb and shrapnel hit her body,” said the witness, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

“All the children were bleeding all over.”

Reuters could not independently verify the witness’s account, but the ACLED data includes an entry for a junta attack on the village on 16 April, including one fatality.

In the six months before 2 April, the junta carried out an average of 7.6 attacks per day using aircraft or drones, killing more than five people daily, including civilians, according to ACLED data.

Between 2 and 18 April, the military conducted an average of 9.7 aircraft or drone attacks per day, killing more than six people daily. In total, 105 people were killed by junta aerial attacks during this period.

The data showed opposition groups only conducted three aerial attacks during the ceasefire, between 2 and 18 April. Anti-junta groups in the country lack a conventional air force and rely on drones.

In contrast, Myanmar’s junta air force includes Chinese and Russian-made fighter jets, ground-attack aircraft, Russian attack helicopters and heavy unmanned aerial vehicles, according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies last year.

The junta’s aerial attacks since the earthquake have targeted the Sagaing region and northern Shan state, where it is attempting to regain strategic positions, as well as Kachin and Rakhine states, said ACLED senior analyst Su Mon.

“The military is still conducting aerial strikes that target civilian populations,” she said.

In its ceasefire announcements on 2 and 22 April, the junta stated it would retaliate against a range of actions by rebels, including recruitment and territorial expansion.

In a few instances, the data indicated that the military was attacked by armed groups prior to launching an airstrike, the UN’s Rodehaver said.

Referring to the junta, he said: “Whenever you get attacked by small arms fire, your response is to launch airstrikes on an area and you end up killing a dozen people who were not involved in the fighting at all. Is that a ceasefire?” — Reuters