Agencies | Kyauktaw:
At least 33 people were killed and 36 others wounded after a Myanmar military airstrike hit an area near a market in the rebel-held northern Rakhine state on Monday, according to rescue officials and the Arakan Army.
The attack took place around noon local time in Kyauktaw, where the market serves as a major wholesale centre and attracts traders and shoppers from across Rakhine, officials said.
The Arakan Army said a military fighter jet dropped two bombs near the market, killing vendors, shoppers and pedestrians. It warned that the death toll could rise further as rescue operations continued.
Wai Hun Aung, a senior rescue official in Rakhine, confirmed the casualties to the Associated Press and described the attack as one of the most severe airstrikes in the region.
Images and videos circulated on social media showed buildings engulfed in flames, damaged vehicles and sections of a nearby bridge destroyed.
Myanmar’s military did not immediately comment on the reported attack. The military authorities have previously maintained that their air operations target legitimate military positions and have accused armed resistance groups of engaging in “terrorism”.
The strike comes amid an escalating conflict that has engulfed Myanmar since the military ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The coup triggered widespread protests and the emergence of armed resistance groups, which have since fought the military alongside several established ethnic armed organisations.
The Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic armed group seeking greater autonomy for the Rakhine ethnic community, launched a major offensive in November 2023.
Since then, it has captured several strategically important military positions and 14 of Rakhine state’s 17 townships, according to reports.
The conflict has also severely disrupted trade and supply routes into Rakhine. Military restrictions on transportation and commerce have contributed to worsening shortages of food and other essential supplies.
The latest airstrike follows another deadly attack in Rakhine. In December, a Myanmar military airstrike on a hospital in Mrauk U township reportedly killed at least 33 people and wounded around 70 others.
The prolonged conflict has displaced nearly half a million people in Rakhine, according to United Nations data.
The UN said in August that Myanmar’s human rights situation had deteriorated to a “new low”, citing serious abuses against the Rohingya minority and the wider humanitarian consequences of the conflict.
The fighting has also been accompanied by economic disruption and illicit activities, including illegal rare-earth mining, according to the UN.
Both the military and armed resistance groups have increasingly used drones during the conflict. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project estimates that more than 100,000 people have been killed since the conflict began.
The latest attack underscores the continuing risks faced by civilians in Rakhine, where fighting, restricted access to essential supplies and repeated airstrikes have compounded an already severe humanitarian crisis.
