At least 31 people were killed and 68 others injured after a Myanmar military air raid struck the general hospital in Mrauk-U, located in western Rakhine state, on Thursday.
According to on-ground aid worker Wai Hun Aung, the casualty count was expected to rise as emergency workers continued to search through the damaged facility.
The assault came amid a sweeping offensive launched by the junta in the run-up to nationwide elections scheduled to begin later this month. Conflict observers report that the military has steadily escalated its use of air power each year since the civil war erupted in 2021, following the coup that ended a decade of partial democratic progress.
Myanmar’s generals plan to start voting on 28 December, promoting the polls as a pathway to stability. However, anti-junta armed groups have vowed to obstruct the election in areas under their control, intensifying clashes as the military attempts to retake territory.
Wai Hun Aung described the scene in Mrauk-U as devastating, noting that the number of dead and wounded was likely to grow. The situation remained extremely volatile, with medical teams overwhelmed by the scale of the attack.
The strike in Mrauk-U follows another deadly incident just last week, when a junta air attack on a tea shop in the Sagaing region killed at least 18 civilians and injured around 20 others, according to local residents and independent Myanmar media outlets.
Myanmar has faced relentless unrest since the military removed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February, 2021. Mass protests against the takeover were initially peaceful, but after being met with lethal force, many citizens turned to armed resistance. As a result, large swathes of the country remain engulfed in conflict, with no sign of a political resolution in sight.
