At least 49 people were killed and 58 others injured after an airstrike by Myanmar’s military struck an area near a market in rebel-controlled territory in western Rakhine state on Monday, according to the Arakan Army and a local rescue official.
The attack occurred in Kyauktaw township, roughly 340 kilometres west of Mandalay. The area is controlled by the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic armed organisation operating in Rakhine.
The Arakan Army said a fighter jet dropped two bombs near a local market around midday, killing vendors, shoppers and pedestrians. It said 22 of the injured were in critical condition.
Wai Hun Aung, a senior rescue official in Rakhine, confirmed the reported casualties, citing rescue workers at the scene. He said the market was a major wholesale centre serving traders and shoppers from across the state.
Images and videos circulated on social media appeared to show burning buildings, damaged vehicles and sections of a nearby bridge that had been destroyed. The material could not be independently verified.
Arakan Army Warns of Retaliation
The Arakan Army described the incident as the latest in a series of deadly airstrikes carried out by Myanmar’s military against pro-democracy resistance groups and ethnic armed organisations across the country.
The group said it planned to take retaliatory action against individuals and organisations it considers directly responsible for airstrikes that have caused mass casualties.
Myanmar’s military did not immediately issue a statement on the reported attack. The military has previously said its airstrikes target legitimate military positions and has accused resistance groups of terrorism.
Myanmar has been embroiled in armed conflict since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021. A nationwide crackdown on protests following the coup prompted many opponents of military rule to take up arms, leading to fighting across large parts of the country.
The Arakan Army is the armed wing of a movement seeking greater autonomy for Rakhine’s ethnic minority from Myanmar’s central government. It launched a major offensive in Rakhine in November 2023 and has since captured a strategically important regional military headquarters as well as 14 of the state’s 17 townships.
The continuing conflict has disrupted trade routes and contributed to worsening food shortages, while restrictions on movement and commerce have further affected local communities.
In December, an airstrike on a hospital in Rakhine’s Mrauk-U township reportedly killed at least 34 people and injured 80 others.
