Conflict monitors say the junta has increased airstrikes year-on-year since the start of Myanmar’s civil war
Conflict monitors say the junta has increased airstrikes year-on-year since the start of Myanmar’s civil war
Dozens have been killed in a military strike on a hospital in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, according to an aid worker, a rebel group, a witness and local media reports, as the junta wages a withering offensive ahead of elections beginning this month.
“The situation is very terrible,” said on-site aid worker Wai Hun Aung. “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.”
The hospital in Rakhine’s Mrauk U township was struck late on Wednesday by bombs dropped by a military aircraft, said Khine Thu Kha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, which is battling the ruling junta along parts of the coastal state.
“The Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed,” Khine Thu Kha told Reuters news agency. “The high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit.”
A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls for comment.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said such attacks may amount to a war crime and called for an investigation. A spokesperson for the US state department called the reports “disturbing” and said the military government should cease violence against civilians.
