Rakhine State: At least 34 people have been killed and dozens more injured after air strikes hit a hospital in Mrauk-U town, western Myanmar, on Wednesday night, according to local sources. The town is under the control of the Arakan Army, one of the strongest ethnic armed groups opposing the military regime.
The attack occurred around 21:00 local time and primarily affected patients inside the hospital, said Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army. Witnesses and hospital staff reported extensive damage to the building, including collapsed roofs, broken beds, and debris scattered across the grounds.
The Myanmar military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, has not commented on the air strike. Pro-military accounts on Telegram claimed this week’s operations were not directed at civilians.
Since the coup, thousands have died, and millions have been displaced amid the civil conflict. In recent months, the military has intensified air strikes to reclaim territory from ethnic armies and has deployed paragliders to drop bombs on its opponents.
The Arakan Army described the attack as part of a continuing campaign targeting civilian areas and called on the military to take responsibility for the casualties. Health authorities in Rakhine confirmed that at least 10 patients died immediately, and many others were injured.
Myanmar’s junta has regained ground in several regions with support from Chinese and Russian military equipment. Heavy bombardments and aerial attacks have contributed to recent gains, reversing earlier losses in the conflict. Earlier this year, more than 20 people were killed when the military used paragliders to drop bombs on a crowd protesting at a religious festival. Civil liberties have also sharply declined, with tens of thousands of political dissidents arrested, according to rights groups.
The junta has announced a general election for December 28, presenting it as a step toward stability. Critics, however, have dismissed the vote as neither free nor fair, calling it a move to legitimize the military’s rule. The UN’s human rights expert on Myanmar described the election as a ‘sham.’
Authorities have recently arrested civilians accused of disrupting the vote and are searching for activists involved in anti-election protests. Ethnic armed groups and opposition parties have pledged to boycott the polls, while anti-junta forces have already detained some candidates.
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