The News
Myanmar’s ruling military junta announced a temporary ceasefire Wednesday in the country’s civil war, amid mounting international pressure to allow aid to reach victims of Friday’s earthquake.
The junta said in a statement that the truce would run until April 22. Several of Myanmar’s opposition groups had also already declared temporary ceasefires.
The 7.7 earthquake has caused widespread destruction in central Myanmar and killed more than 2,900 people so far.
Hours before the ceasefire announcement, junta soldiers reportedly fired “warning shots” at a Chinese Red Cross convoy.
The regime’s unwillingness to allow aid access to the worst-hit areas is an indication of “how weak [the] regime and military are at this juncture,” a senior adviser at Crisis Group told Bloomberg.