Myanmar junta makes rare request for foreign aid to cope with deadly floods

Myanmar’s junta chief made a rare request on Saturday for foreign aid to cope with deadly floods that have displaced hundreds of thousands of people who have endured three years of war.

Floods and landslides have killed almost 300 people in Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which dumped a huge deluge of rain when it hit the region last weekend.

In Myanmar more than 235,000 people have been forced from their homes by floods, the junta said on Friday, piling further misery on the country where war has raged since the military seized power in 2021.

“Officials from the government need to contact foreign countries to receive rescue and relief aid to be provided to the victims,” Min Aung Hlaing said on Friday, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

“It is necessary to manage rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures as quickly as possible,” he was quoted as saying.