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New Delhi: An airstrike by Myanmar’s military levelled a hospital operating under the control of the Arakan Army in conflict-hit Rakhine state. It killed 34 patients and healthcare workers, according to a local rescue worker and reports cited by the Associated Press on Thursday.
The strike took place late Wednesday in Mrauk-U township, an area that has seen intensifying clashes as the Arakan Army expands its territorial hold. Around 80 others were injured when the bombs hit the general hospital, which serves as the main healthcare centre in the region now administered by the rebel group.
A senior official from a Rakhine rescue service told AP that a military jet released two bombs at precisely 9:13 pm. One bomb hit the recovery ward, while the second detonated near the hospital’s main building. He said he reached the scene early Thursday, where he counted the bodies of 17 men and 17 women.
The hospital complex was left almost completely destroyed, with nearby vehicles, including taxis and motorbikes, also damaged. Photos and videos shared by local Rakhine media showed collapsed structures and medical equipment scattered across the grounds.
The facility had only recently reopened after doctors regrouped in Mrauk-U to provide essential services, as most hospitals in Rakhine have stopped functioning amid the civil war. Mrauk-U, located about 530 km northwest of Yangon, has been under Arakan Army control since February last year.
The Arakan Army, the armed wing of the broader Rakhine nationalist movement, has been fighting for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central authorities. Since launching a major offensive in November 2023, the group has captured a key regional military base and gained ground in 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships.
Rakhine, historically known as Arakan, has long witnessed ethnic tension, including the 2017 military crackdown that forced about 740,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh. Relations between the Rohingya and the Buddhist Rakhine population remain deeply strained.
Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, formed by lawmakers barred from taking office after the 2021 coup, condemned the latest attack. It urged the international community to pressure the junta to halt airstrikes, ensure accountability, and accelerate humanitarian assistance.
Myanmar has been gripped by escalating violence since the military seized power in 2021. Air attacks have intensified ahead of the December 28 elections, which critics say “will be neither free nor fair” and are aimed at cementing military rule.
