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Myanmar airstrike kills at least 50 in Rakhine state
Confirmed
In Short: A Myanmar military airstrike near a market in western Rakhine state, home to the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, killed at least 50 people and wounded 36 others on Monday, according to the Arakan Army and local aid workers.
The Arakan Army and a local aid worker reported the casualties, with Wai Hun Aung, a senior rescue official in Rakhine, confirming the death toll to The Associated Press.
The attack occurred around noon when a fighter jet dropped two bombs near a local market, killing 33 people, including vendors, shoppers, and pedestrians.
Local aid workers warned that the death toll could rise, adding to concerns over civilian casualties in Rakhine, where the military and the Arakan Army have been engaged in fierce fighting.
The latest airstrike is part of a series of deadly airstrikes against pro-democracy resistance forces and ethnic armed groups across the country since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
The Myanmar military has been battling a collection of armed groups, including the Arakan Army, across multiple frontlines since the 2021 coup.
UN investigators from the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) last week published a report accusing the military of "indiscriminate and intentional aerial attacks against civilians".
The Myanmar government dismissed the IIMM report, calling it "one-sided allegations against Myanmar's security forces based on unverifiable and inaccurate information".
Public buildings, most often monasteries and schools, are frequently the sites of reported airstrikes.
The Myanmar military has not responded to requests for comment on the reported airstrike and casualties.
What's confirmed
- A Myanmar military airstrike near a market in western Rakhine state, home to the country’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, killed at least 33 people and wounded 36 others Monday, according to the Arakan Army and a local aid worker.
What's still developing
- Myanmar has remained engulfed in conflict since the 2021 military coup triggered a civil war.
- YANGON: A Myanmar military airstrike on a monastery where civilians were gathered for a meditation retreat marking Buddhist Lent killed 14 people, two rebel fighters who witnessed the aftermath said.
- At least 33 people have died and 36 were injured in the airstrike in the town of Kyauktaw in Rakhine state, according to the Arakan Army, a rebel group fighting the military.