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The northwest of the country has been embroiled in an increasingly brutal civil war between the Myanmar army and the Arakan army rebels demanding more autonomy for the state’s ethnic Rakhine population.
The area has suffered a strict blockade for months, making independent reporting difficult.
Both the army and insurgents blamed each other for the attack, which occurred early Monday morning on a bridge near the city of Minbya.
The couple had been traveling in a UN vehicle while carrying COVID-19 surveillance samples, the organization said, adding that it was “deeply saddened” in confirming the death of driver Pyae Sone Win Maung.
The driver had promised to call his parents, said father Htay Win Maung.
“He asked me not to call him when I was driving,” he told AFP by phone, saying that he and his wife were heartbroken over the death of their 28-year-old son.
“That was the last time we spoke.”
Brigadier General Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun confirmed the driver’s death and told AFP that health worker Aung Myo Oo had been transferred to the hospital in Rakhine state capital Sittwe.
Tens, hundreds of wounded and tens of thousands of displaced people have been killed since the fighting broke out earlier last year, and the two sides exchanged accusations of abuses.
Hostilities have increased in recent weeks since the government called the group “terrorists,” meaning that journalists cannot communicate with the group without violating the country’s terrorism laws. Growing calls for a ceasefire have been ignored as coronavirus fears have gripped the country.
A government-imposed internet blackout has “greatly hampered” the availability of hygiene information and other preventive measures, the UN refugee agency warned last week.
The lobby group Fortify Rights demanded an independent investigation Tuesday into what it condemned as a “scandalous” attack and called on the government to urgently allow humanitarian access to the area.
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