At least 30 people were killed and about 70 others wounded when a military air strike hit a hospital in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state late Wednesday, according to a rebel group, aid workers, and a witness.
The strike targeted a 300-bed hospital in Mrauk U township, a region under the control of the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group engaged in ongoing conflict with the military government. The country has seen widespread violence since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, deposing the elected civilian government.
Khine Thu Kha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, said bombs from a military aircraft struck the hospital directly. “The high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit,” he stated.
The facility was reportedly crowded at the time of the bombing, as many healthcare services across Rakhine state have been suspended due to the conflict. Aid worker Wai Hun Aung told AFP, “The situation is very terrible. As for now, we can confirm there are 31 deaths and we think there will be more deaths. Also, there are 68 wounded and will be more and more.”
Onsite photos shared by Wai Hun Aung on social media—images which could not be independently verified—showed the collapsed remains of the hospital, along with several bodies laid outside.
A 23-year-old local resident told AFP he went to the area after hearing explosions: “When I arrived, the hospital was on fire. I saw many bodies lying around and many injured people.”
Al Jazeera correspondent Tony Cheng, reporting from central Myanmar, said that air strikes are a near-daily occurrence. “We heard overnight a loud explosion a couple of villages over. What we understand is that a military jet dropped a 1,000-pound bomb,” he said, adding that nearly every household in the region now has a bomb shelter.
The Myanmar military holds sole control over the country’s air force and has increasingly used aerial strikes against areas held by resistance groups. According to figures from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, the military conducted 2,165 air strikes between January and late November of this year, up from 1,716 in all of 2024.
The Arakan Army, along with other armed resistance groups, has taken control of most parts of Rakhine since a ceasefire collapsed in 2023. The group now controls 14 of the state’s 17 townships—an area reportedly larger than Belgium, according to research by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
Khine Thu Kha also said there had been no recent fighting in Mrauk U prior to the air strike.
Myanmar’s civil war continues to escalate, with conflict zones stretching across multiple states and significantly disrupting access to healthcare, education, and basic services.
