Myanmar, December 13: Dozens of people were killed and scores wounded after a military airstrike hit a crowded hospital in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, aid workers, a rebel group and witnesses said, as the junta intensifies its campaign to retake territory ahead of elections later this month.
The hospital in Mrauk U township was struck late on Wednesday by bombs dropped from a military aircraft, according to Khine Thu Kha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group fighting the junta across much of Rakhine.
“The situation is very terrible,” said aid worker Wai Hun Aung, who was at the site of the attack. “We can confirm there are 31 deaths and we think there will be more. There are 68 wounded and the numbers are increasing.”
A 23-year-old resident of Mrauk U told Reuters he rushed to the scene after hearing explosions. “When I arrived, the hospital was on fire,” he said, requesting anonymity for security reasons. “I saw many bodies lying around and many injured people.”
Photographs circulating on local media showed the shattered remains of the medical facility and bodies wrapped in sheets on the ground. Reuters could not independently verify the images.
The 300-bed hospital had been operating beyond capacity, aid workers said, as health services across much of Rakhine have collapsed amid ongoing fighting. Conflict monitors say the military has ramped up airstrikes every year since seizing power in a 2021 coup that ended a decade of political opening.
The United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said the hospital strike may amount to a war crime and called for an investigation. A U.S. State Department spokesperson described the reports as “disturbing” and urged the junta to halt violence against civilians.
The junta has scheduled national polls beginning Dec. 28, touting the vote as a path to stability. Rebel groups, including the AA, have vowed to block the election in areas they control. The AA now dominates all but three of Rakhine’s 17 townships, according to conflict trackers.
The Arakan Army is one of Myanmar’s most powerful insurgent groups and was part of the “Three Brotherhood Alliance” that waged a joint offensive in 2023, dealing serious setbacks to the military. Its two allied factions have since agreed to Chinese-brokered truces, leaving the AA to fight alone.
The group has also faced accusations of abuses, including against the Rohingya minority, though it denies targeting civilians.
“The Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed,” AA spokesperson Khine Thu Kha said. “The high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit.”
A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls seeking comment.
