US launches first relief airlift to Myanmar after cyclone

A military C-130 cargo plane packed with supplies left a Thai air force base Monday for Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. Two more air shipments are scheduled to land Tuesday.

Allowing the U.S. flight is a huge concession by Myanmar's military government, which sees Washington as its enemy. The junta has also generally refused to allow international relief experts and slowed down aid delivery by the U.N. with red-tape.

Operation spokesman Lt. Col. Douglas Powell said the plane is unarmed. He said it is carrying U.S. government, not military, aid supplies including mosquito nets, blankets and water.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -Myanmar's monumental task of feeding and sheltering 1.5 million cyclone survivors suffered yet another blow Sunday when a boat laden with relief supplies -one of the first international shipments -sank on its way to the disaster zone.

The death toll jumped to more than 28,000 and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned that "malign neglect" by the isolated nation's military rulers was creating a "humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions."

The junta has been sharply criticized for its handling of the May 3 disaster, from failing to provide adequate warnings about the pending storm to responding slowly to offers of help.

Though international assistance has started trickling in, the few foreign relief workers who have been allowed entry into Myanmar have been restricted to the largest city of Yangon. Only a handful have succeeded in getting past checkpoints into the worst-affected areas.

But in what was seen as a huge concession by the junta, the United States finally got the go-ahead to send a C-130 cargo plane packed with supplies to Yangon on Monday, with two more air shipments scheduled to land Tuesday.