An armed resistance group in Myanmar has accused the ruling military government of continuing to carry out airstrikes on “civilian areas” in the wake of the huge earthquake in the country.

The 7.7 magnitude quake struck near the city of Mandalay at around 12.50m local time (6.20am UK time) on Friday while Myanmar is in the grips of a bloody civil war.

The death toll from the quake stands at 1,700, with 3,400 others injured and 300 missing, according to pro-military government Telegram channels, citing the country’s rulers.

But the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) predictive modelling estimates that the number of dead will increase into the thousands, and could reach 10,000.

It comes as rescue and relief efforts in the country have been hampered by the ongoing civil war, which has raged since 2021.

The Karen National Union (KNU), one of Myanmar’s oldest ethnic armies, has said in a statement that the military government, known as a junta, is continuing to “carry out airstrikes targeting civilian areas”.

It said the strikes come “even as the population suffers tremendously from the earthquake”.

The KNU said that under normal circumstances, the military would be prioritising relief efforts after an earthquake, but instead it is focused on “deploying forces to attack its people”.

The Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation, said military jets launched airstrikes and drone attacks in Karen state, near the KNU headquarters, in the south of the country, shortly after the quake on Friday.

It came before there were reports of mortar and drone attacks on Saturday.

The junta has not confirmed whether or not it has been carrying out strikes since the disaster.

The epicentre of the quake was in an area held by junta forces, but the devastation is widespread and also affected some territory held by armed resistance movements.

On Sunday, the opposition National Unity Government, which includes remnants of the government ousted in a 2021 coup, said anti-junta militias under its command would pause all offensive military action for two weeks.

Richard Horsey, the senior Myanmar adviser at Crisis Group, which works to resolve armed conflicts, said some anti-junta forces have halted their offensives, but fighting continues elsewhere.

“The regime also continues to launch airstrikes, including in affected areas. That needs to stop,” he said.

He claimed that the junta was not providing much visible support in quake-hit areas.

“Local fire brigades, ambulance crews, and community organisations have mobilised, but the military – who would normally be mobilised to support in such a crisis – are nowhere to be seen,” Mr Horsey said.

The junta broke its self-imposed isolation to appeal for help from the outside world following the earthquake. However, the country’s inaccessibility will likely remain a huge obstacle to aid efforts.

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The junta has said the earthquake is one of Myanmar’s strongest in a century – while the USGS suggests financial losses due to the disaster could exceed the country’s annual economic output.

While emergency rescue teams have started trickling into the area hardest hit by the quake, efforts have been hindered by damaged roads, downed bridges, poor communications and the challenges of operating in a country in the middle of a civil war.

Many areas still have not been reached.

Most rescues occur within the first 24 hours after a disaster, with the chances of survival diminishing as each day passes.

Neighbouring Thailand was also shaken, such as in the capital, Bangkok, where 18 people were killed, including 11 who died when an under-construction skyscraper collapsed. At least 76 people are missing and believed to be trapped under the debris.

Twelve Chinese nationals are among the injured, according to Chinese state media.

An initial report on earthquake relief efforts issued on Saturday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities in Myanmar.

And it warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anaesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers”.

India, China and Thailand are among the neighbours that have sent relief materials and teams, along with aid and personnel.

The UK government has announced a package of £10m to support the people of Myanmar in the aftermath of the quake.

Four years of civil war

Myanmar has been locked in a conflict involving multiple armed opposition groups since a 2021 coup, when the military seized power from the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Many places are now dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach.

More than three million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need, according to the United Nations.

Donald Trump has said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” after Vladimir Putin criticised the credibility of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a phone call with Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News.

Mr Trump said the Russian president’s recent comments, calling for a transitional government to be put in place in Ukraine in a move that could effectively push out Mr Zelenskyy, were “not going in the right direction”.

He told NBC’s Kirsten Welker: “If I feel we’re in the midst of a negotiation, you could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin said yesterday that – you know, when Putin started getting into Zelenskyy’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right direction.”

It is a rare move by Mr Trump to criticise Mr Putin, whom he has generally spoken positively about during discussions to end the war in Ukraine.

Last month, he also released a barrage of critical comments about Mr Zelenskyy’s leadership, calling him a “dictator” and making unfounded claims that he had “poor approval” ratings in Ukraine.

The president added that if Russia is unable to make a deal on “stopping bloodshed in Ukraine” – and Mr Trump felt that Moscow was to blame – then he would put secondary tariffs on “all oil coming out of Russia”.

“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States. There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil,” he said.

Mr Trump said Mr Putin knows he is angry, but added that he has “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly… if he does the right thing”.

He said he plans to speak with the Russian president again this week.

In the wide-ranging interview with NBC, Mr Trump also discussed:

• The possibility of seeking a third term in office;
• Imposing secondary tariffs on Iran;
• Not ruling out military rule to annex Greenland;
• Confirmed no one will be fired over Signal group chat blunder.

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‘Not joking’ about seeking a third term

When asked if he will seek to stay in the White House for a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, Mr Trump told NBC: “A lot of people want me to do it.”

He added: “I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration. I’m focused on the current.”

The president said he liked working, and would be interested in staying in the role for another four years after his second term comes to an end in 2028.

“I’m not joking,” he said, when asked to clarify. “But I’m not – it is far too early to think about it.”

Mr Trump said one method in which a third term could be possible is by Vice President JD Vance running for office and then handing the responsibility over to him. He refused to share details on other methods he claims exist.

Threatening Iran with bombing and tariffs

Mr Trump said if Tehran did not make a deal with the US to ensure it did not develop a nuclear weapon, there could be bombing and secondary tariffs.

The tariffs would affect buyers of the country’s goods. It comes after he signed an executive order last week authorising such tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran had rejected direct negotiations with the US, but left open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington.

No one will be fired over Signal group chat blunder

Addressing the national security blunder, which saw a journalist mistakenly added to a Signal chat group discussing planned strikes on Yemen, Mr Trump confirmed no one will be fired.

It was revealed this week that national security adviser Michael Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat with senior members of the Trump administration who were discussing plans to strike Houthi militants earlier this month.

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The president said he doesn’t fire people “because of fake news and because of witch hunts”, adding that he still had confidence in Mr Waltz and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who was also in the Signal chat.

Military option to annex Greenland not off the table

Mr Trump also discussed his commitment to annexing Greenland – a semi-autonomous country which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark – and said that using military force was “not off the table”.

“We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%,” the president said. He added: “[There’s a] good possibility that we could do it without military force. [But] I don’t take anything off the table.”

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen responded to Mr Trump’s comments by reiterating that the US will not take control of the Arctic country, and that it “controls its own future”.

In Bangkok, at the site where a mass of rubble sits, rescue workers have the machinery they need and the manpower to try and pull people out of the high-rise building that collapsed.

In neighbouring Myanmar, they certainly don’t have that kind of capacity and they’re confronting a much larger death toll – one that is rising.

And yet, progress at the site where an unfinished building was instantly destroyed has been painfully slow.

All day, we watched as cranes tried to shift the concrete and steel around to make way for rescuers to enter.

Tide Banluerit, a volunteer rescuer, emerged looking bewildered after 11 hours inside.

“I looked at the structure and the foundation looked strong,'” he said. “But it’s not meant to collapse like dominoes and stack like pancakes in that way.”

But there is still hope.

Myanmar earthquake: Follow live updates

The Thai police told us overnight that they had seen signs of life on thermal imaging systems.

Perhaps as many as 15 people, they believed.

Families of the missing were holding on to those nuggets of information – holding vigil at a dusty area now full of makeshift water and footstalls, laid on to support the round-the-clock rescue efforts.

Hovering outside a white tent, Munyapa Thongkorn was waiting for news.

Wiping away tears as she clutched onto her husband, she told me her 17-year-old daughter Naiyana was trapped.

She was working as an electrician inside the multi-storey building when the quake hit.

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“They told me she’s still inside, still stuck,” she says. “I was only just talking to my friends about her before the earthquake. But I haven’t been able to reach her since.”

A rescuer told me he thought it could be 72 hours before they could properly get inside the mangled structure.

That’s a long time when every second counts.

In Myanmar, people are using their own hands to pull their neighbours from the rubble.

There have been some miraculous escapes.

One video from Mandalay shows a young woman emerging from the smallest of gaps – a flash of a hand and then a smile – confirmation after a long rescue that she had survived against all the odds.

China, Russia, and India have sent teams into the country now after the ruling military junta asked for international support – a rare move.

They have their work cut out.

Information in the isolated country has been slow to emerge – the junta restricting access to the internet.

But videos are starting to show the scale of destruction and the death toll, at over 1,600 as of Saturday evening, is expected to rise.

The US Geological Survey says it could rise as high as 10,000.

The infrastructure has long been under pressure from a bloody civil war in Myanmar.

It could easily be totally overwhelmed by this disaster.

Hospitals are among the buildings hit.

Over the next 48 hours, we will find out a bit more about just how grave the situation is on the ground.

Traversing the roads, let alone the whim of the ruling junta, is deeply challenging.

But even the military concedes, this time, it needs help and fast.