Myanmar Update: Military fires at Chinese Red Cross convoy

Myanmar’s military opened fire at a Chinese Red Cross convoy carrying earthquake relief supplies on Tuesday night.

According to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an armed rebel group, military troops shot at the convoy of nine vehicles with machine guns in eastern Shan State.

CNN reports that the convoy was en route to Mandalay, the hard-hit city near the epicentre of the magnitude-7.7 earthquake that struck last Friday.

So far, no injuries have been reported.

Myanmar’s junta, which said it was investigating the incident, denied shooting directly at the vehicles.

It said troops fired shots into the air after the convoy did not stop, despite it being signalled to do so.

China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that its rescue team and supplies were safe.

It added that it hoped “all factions and parties in Myanmar will prioritize earthquake relief efforts”.

Myanmar has been gripped by violence amid a civil war between the junta and ethnic militias and resistance forces across the country.

The Junta had seized power in a 2021 coup.

The country’s humanitarian crisis has worsened significantly after last week’s massive earthquake.

Last week’s earthquake has reportedly killed more than 2,700 people, by the government’s estimate.

The actual death toll is believed to be much higher.

Multiple international aid agencies and foreign governments have dispatched personnel and supplies to quake-hit regions.

A military spokesperson on Wednesday said troops saw the aid convoy coming from Naungcho township on Tuesday night.

He ssid it came with vehicles sporting Chinese stickers and Myanmar number plates, but had not been given prior notice of the vehicles’ movement.

“When we saw the convoy, we stopped it. But they continued. We opened fire from about 200m away, but they didn’t stop,” he said.

“At about 100m away, we fired three shots in the air, after which the vehicles turned back towards Naungcho.”

China’s Blue Sky Rescue Team, had been given a security cover when they travelled through this route, the spokesperson said.

The Rescue Team has been providing rescue support in Mandalay.

He added that when international agencies want to give aid, they need to inform the Myanmar government.

The TNLA, which was escorting the Red Cross convoy, said they had informed the military council about going to Mandalay.

After retreating to Naungcho, they would be continuing their journey, the group said in a statement.

Rebel groups have unilaterally announced a ceasefire to support earthquake relief efforts. But the military has refused to do the same.

Hours after the quake struck on Friday, the junta launched an air strike in Naungcho township that killed seven people.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has said that, the military would continue its “necessary defence operations.”

According to him, this comes since ethnic armed groups were still “training in preparation for attacks.”

The UN described the airstrikes as “completely outrageous and unacceptable”.

Even before the quake, the ICG said, information had been hard to gather from such areas.

This they said, was because of a junta blackout of internet and mobile phone networks as part of the conflict.

“Soldiers are everywhere in the town,” a man who traveled to Sagaing told reporters.

“They are there for security, not for rescue. They check every vehicle.”

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the junta to allow unhindered access for humanitarian aid.

It also urged the junta to lift curbs impeding aid agencies, saying donors should channel aid through independent groups rather than only junta authorities.

“Myanmar’s junta cannot be trusted to respond to a disaster of this scale,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a report.

“Concerned governments and international agencies need to press the junta to allow full and immediate access to survivors, wherever they are,” he added.

The military has dismissed as misinformation accusations that it committed widespread atrocities as it fought against a multi-pronged rebellion that followed the coup.

Rebels have accused the military of conducting airstrikes even after the quake.

On Tuesday, a major rebel alliance declared a unilateral ceasefire to help relief efforts.

The United Nations said there were more than 28 million people in the six regions affected by the quake.

It also said it had $12 million in emergency funding for food, shelter, water, sanitation, mental health support and other services.

“The situation remains critical, with disrupted communications and road access hampering response efforts, particularly in Sagaing,” the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said.

Australia announced a further A$6.5 million ($4.1 million) in humanitarian support for Myanmar.

This it supplied “through thoroughly vetted international and local partners.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said,

“We take proactive steps to ensure our assistance does not legitimize the military regime in Myanmar.”

A woman in Mandalay, near the quake epicenter, told Reuters that authorities were building a stage for this month’s Thingyan water festival.

Although many people were homeless, with bodies left under collapsed buildings.

The military council has rejected requests from international journalists to cover the quake devastation, citing the lack of water, electricity and hotels.

In neighboring Thailand, the death toll from the quake rose to 22 on Wednesday, with hundreds of buildings damaged.

A search for survivors in the rubble of a skyscraper under construction in the capital, Bangkok, entered its fifth day.

It comes with a change in role for some rescue dogs at the site, where 15 people died and 72 are missing.

The government is investigating the collapse and initial tests showed some steel samples from the site were substandard.

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