Myanmar’s military attacked a hospital in the town of Mrauk-U in Rakhine state on Wednesday night, killing at least 34 people and wounding dozens more, according to local sources.
According to the BBC, the city is controlled by the Arakan Army, one of the strongest ethnic armed groups opposing the military regime.
Khaing Thukha, spokesman for the Arakan Army, told the BBC that most of the victims were patients.
“This is the latest cruel attack by the terrorist army against civilian places,” he said, adding that the military “must take responsibility” for bombings against civilians.
The Arakan Army health department said the attack, which occurred around 9:00 p.m. local time (14:30 GMT), killed 10 patients at the scene and injured many others.
Photos circulating on social media show parts of the hospital with no roofs, broken beds and debris scattered on the floor.
Pro-military accounts on Telegram claimed that the attacks were not directed at civilians; However, the Myanmar military has not issued a formal statement.
Since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, thousands of people have died and millions have been displaced as the country descends into civil war.
In recent months, the military has stepped up airstrikes to recapture territory from ethnic armies and deployed paragliders to drop bombs on opposition forces.
Earlier this year, the BBC reports that more than 20 people were killed when an army motorized paraglider dropped bombs on a crowd protesting a religious festival. Civil liberties have also contracted and tens of thousands of political dissidents have been arrested, according to human rights groups.
The attacks come ahead of Myanmar’s first elections since the coup, scheduled for December 28.
The junta has called the elections a path to political stability, but critics say they will be neither free nor fair.
Tom Andrews, a UN human rights expert on Myanmar, described it as a “false election”. Opposition groups and ethnic armies have pledged to boycott the vote, and several activists and candidates have already been detained in the run-up.
(BBC)
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