An air raid carried out by Myanmar’s military has left at least 22 people dead, most of them teenagers, after bombs struck two private schools in western Rakhine state, according to local reports and an armed group.
Khaing Thukha, the Arakan Army’s (AA) spokesperson, told The Associated Press on Friday night that a military jet released two bombs on Pyinnya Pan Khinn and A Myin Thit Private boarding school in Thayet Thapin village, Kyauktaw township.
He said the majority of those killed were “17- to 18-year-old students from the private schools.” Independent confirmation was not possible, as communication lines in the area remain largely cut off.
The AA expressed grief in a Telegram statement, saying, “We feel as sad as the victims’ families for the death of the innocent students,” while accusing the military of carrying out the deadly strike.
The Arakan Army is the armed wing of the Rakhine ethnic group that has been fighting for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central authorities. Since launching a campaign in November 2023, it has taken control of 14 out of 17 townships in Rakhine, including a key regional army base.
Kyauktaw, 250km (150 miles) southwest of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, was captured by the AA last February.
Myanmar has faced persistent conflict since the military removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in a coup on February 1, 2021. Following a violent crackdown on peaceful protests, numerous citizens turned to armed resistance, spreading conflict across much of the country. Rights monitors estimate that more than 7,200 people have been killed by security forces since then.
The junta has in recent weeks escalated its use of air power against the pro-democracy People’s Defence Force, whose fighters are unable to counter air assaults. Relief worker Wai Hun Aung told AP that those who died in the strike were among 30 to 40 boarders staying at the schools. He reported that 21 people were wounded, including six in critical condition, and that several houses close to the schools were also hit.
According to local media, the strike involved a warplane dropping two 500-pound bombs on a school dormitory while students were asleep. Photos and videos circulating online showed collapsed structures and scattered debris.
UNICEF, in a statement released Saturday, strongly denounced the attack, calling it “brutal” and stating it “adds to a pattern of increasingly devastating violence in Rakhine State, with children and families paying the ultimate price.”
Rakhine, also known as Arakan, was previously the site of a large-scale military crackdown in 2017 that forced about 740,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.
