Earth News from TerraDaily.com
Myanmar post-earthquake truce due to lapse
Yangon, April 22 (AFP) Apr 22, 2025
A Myanmar ceasefire declared after last month's devastating earthquake was due to expire on Tuesday, after aid groups and international mediators called for an extension to ease relief efforts.

The junta -- which seized power in a 2021 coup sparking a many-sided civil war -- said it would cease attacking its myriad armed opponents following the magnitude-7.7 quake which has killed more than 3,700.

Conflict monitors and residents in combat zones say fighting continued on both sides during the 20-day truce, declared to spur aid delivery in Myanmar's central belt and due to expire at midnight (1730 GMT).

State media reported no ceasefire extension on Tuesday morning and a junta spokesman could not immediately be reached by AFP for comment.

The March 28 earthquake has left more than 60,000 people living in tent encampments and pushed two million people into "critical need of assistance and protection" according to the UN.

Despite continued fighting, humanitarian groups and regional powers have called for the pause on hostilities to be prolonged as aid efforts continue into their fourth week.

On Thursday junta chief Min Aung Hlaing flew to Bangkok to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for rare backroom talks with the chair of the 10-country ASEAN bloc.

Anwar, whose country currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said he had also spoken to Myanmar's opposition "National Unity Government" which promised a similar truce after the tremor.

Both sides agreed "they would do whatever is necessary to avoid any extension of the fighting", Anwar told reporters after the meeting.





Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Musk's megarocket faces crucial new test after failures
SpaceX launched secretive X-37B US military space drone
Ceres once held deep energy reserves that may have supported life

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Boeing in talks to sell up to 500 planes to China: Bloomberg
Sweden picks mini-reactors for first nuclear expansion in 50 years
Bumpy skies: How climate change increases air turbulence

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SpaceX launches secretive US military spacecraft
Documents show New Zealand unease over Chinese warships in South Pacific
North Korea's Kim decorates troops who fought for Russia against Ukraine

24/7 News Coverage
Comet water analysis strengthens link to Earth origins
Do you want to freeze a cloud? Desert dust might help
Genetic traits behind hibernation may offer new hope for treating metabolic disease


ADVERTISEMENT



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.