The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross met Myanmar's junta chief Thursday and called for increased humanitarian access to the coup-stricken country, the charity said.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a February 1 coup.

A brutal crackdown on dissent by the junta has since killed more than 800 people, according to a local monitoring group.

At the meeting with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, ICRC president Peter Maurer requested "broader humanitarian access" to several border states that have seen increased fighting between ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military since the coup.

He also requested the charity be allowed to resume the "humanitarian visits and activities" in Myanmar's prisons that had been placed on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, the statement added.

The leader of the junta was "noncommittal" but had not refused Maurer's requests, Japan's Nikkei newspaper said, citing people familiar with the meeting.

The ICRC statement did not say where the meeting took place.

Myanmar's national economy and banking system have been paralysed since the military's power grab.

Livelihoods have been lost after strikes and factory closures, fuel prices have shot up and those lucky enough to have bank savings face day-long queues to withdraw their cash.

The World Food Programme estimates that within the next six months, as many as 3.4 million more people will go hungry in Myanmar, and it is poised to triple its emergency food assistance.

© AFP