An airstrike conducted by the military in Myanmar near a market located within territory controlled by a prominent rebel group resulted in the deaths of at least 33 individuals and left 36 others injured on Monday, according to reports from the group and a rescue official. The incident, which took place in western Rakhine state, is part of a series of fatal airstrikes targeting pro-democracy resistance factions and ethnic armed organizations throughout the country.
Since the military took control from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, Myanmar has been engulfed in chaos, sparking widespread opposition. Following the use of deadly force by security forces to quell peaceful protests, many opponents of the military regime have resorted to taking up arms, resulting in significant conflict across various regions of the nation.
The attack on Monday transpired in Kyauktaw township, approximately 340 kilometers west of Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar. The Arakan Army, a potent ethnic armed group operating in Rakhine and overseeing Kyauktaw, reported that a fighter jet dropped two bombs near a local market around noon, claiming the lives of 33 individuals, including vendors, shoppers, and pedestrians.
Wai Hun Aung, a senior rescue official in Rakhine, corroborated the casualties, stating that the market served as the primary wholesale hub for the region, attracting traders and shoppers from all over the state. He described the incident as one of the most severe airstrikes in Rakhine.
Images and videos circulated on social media depicted buildings engulfed in flames, vehicles damaged, and sections of a nearby bridge destroyed. The military refrained from immediate comments on the attack, reiterating its stance of targeting only legitimate military objectives and accusing resistance groups of engaging in terrorism.
The Arakan Army, the well-equipped military arm of a movement advocating for autonomy for Rakhine’s ethnic minority from the central government of Myanmar, has been actively pursuing its objectives. In November 2023, it initiated an offensive in Rakhine, capturing a crucial regional military headquarters and 14 out of the state’s 17 townships.
As clashes between the military and insurgents intensify in Rakhine, trade routes have been severely restricted, exacerbating food shortages in the region. In a separate incident in December, a military airstrike on a hospital in Rakhine’s Mrauk-U township resulted in the deaths of at least 34 individuals and left 80 others wounded.
Rakhine has been a site of prolonged conflicts between the military and insurgents, prompting hundreds of thousands of Rohingya individuals to flee to Bangladesh and other locations since 2017. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, does not officially recognize the Rohingya as one of the country’s 135 recognized ethnic minorities, leading countries like Bangladesh and Malaysia to pursue the repatriation of some of the refugees.