March 30 (UPI) -- Rebel officials in Myanmar put out a call to pause offensive military operations as the country starts works to start recovery efforts after a massive earthquake struck the southeast Asian country last week.
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck near the city of Sagaing on Friday afternoon and the area has continued to be rocked by high-magnitude aftershocks, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of Myanmar's Nation Unity Government said in a statement Sunday.
The NUG said that 1,614 people have died and 1,557 were injured while, another 1,376 people have been reported missing as of Sunday. The highest number of casualties were reported in Myanmar's junta-held capital Naypyidaw, as well as Sagaing, a hotspot for armed resistance that borders India.
"Rescue operations are being delayed because of a lack of manpower and equipment, and also, the chances of survival rate for the missing people are very rare," the NUG said.
"Furthermore, there are many challenges in providing medical treatment to the injured people, and, as of now, only international Search and Rescue (SAR) teams have arrived."
Myanmar has been shaken by junta rule and a civil war since the country's military, known as the Tatmadaw, seized power in February 2021 just hours before the country's then-newly elected parliament was set to convene.
The NUG is made up primarily of elected leaders ousted in the coup and seeks to restore the country to democracy, claiming to be the country's legitimate government.
"In the military-controlled cities, civil society organizations and philanthropic organizations are working with the personal contacts in the impacted areas but there is no proper and formal coordination amongst the response organizations," the NUG said.
The NUG has issued a special directive calling on rebel forces to suspend offensive military operations amid the civil war to focus on disaster recovery.
Rebel officials said in a post on social media that elephants are being used by the NUG to help clear roads, sharing an image of officials on the backs of the large mammals.
The Myanmar Federation of Engineers and the Myanmar Earthquake Committee, two non-governmental entities focusing on tracking and responding to such disasters, said in a statement that they would conduct a "systematic inspection of the condition of the buildings that were affected by the earthquake as soon as possible."
"Due to the large scale of the work, the help of volunteer engineers is urgently needed to carry out this work," the statement said.
Chinese state media has reported that China, which has supplied the junta with weapons, has flown rescue workers into the country to aid in the disaster recovery efforts.