Air strike on Myanmar hospital kills at least 30, dozens injured
The Mrauk U General Hospital, a 300-bed facility, was struck late on Wednesday in the township of Mrauk U by bombs dropped from a military aircraft
At least 30 people, including patients, have been killed and around 70 others wounded after an air strike by Myanmar’s military government hit a major hospital in western Rakhine state, according to a rebel group, aid workers, and witnesses.
The Mrauk U General Hospital, a 300-bed facility, was struck late on Wednesday in the township of Mrauk U by bombs dropped from a military aircraft, said Khine Thu Kha, spokesman for the Arakan Army, which is engaged in armed conflict with the ruling military government across parts of the coastal state.
“The Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed. The high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit,” he told Reuters.
Aid worker Wai Hun Aung described the hospital as overflowing with patients at the time of the attack, noting that healthcare services across much of Rakhine have been suspended due to the ongoing conflict. Images shared by Aung on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed the facility in ruins, with a collapsed roof, shattered columns, and bodies of victims laid out on the ground.
He said, “The situation is very terrible. As for now, we can confirm there are 31 deaths and we think there will be more. Also, there are 68 wounded, and we expect that number to rise.”
A 23-year-old resident of Mrauk U, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said he rushed to the site after hearing explosions. “When I arrived, the hospital was on fire. I saw many bodies lying around and many injured people,” he said.
Al Jazeera reporter Tony Cheng, reporting from central Myanmar, noted that air attacks are becoming increasingly frequent. “We heard overnight a loud explosion a couple of villages over. What we understand is that a military jet dropped a 1,000-pound bomb. That attack led to one fatality and several injuries,” he said. He added that nearly every household now uses bomb shelters as soon as they see or hear aircraft.
Since the 2021 military coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar has been engulfed in escalating conflict. Resistance groups formed after the coup, along with major ethnic armies like the Arakan Army, have been battling the military across multiple fronts. Mrauk U township has been under Arakan Army control since last year, and Khine Thu Kha said there had been no recent fighting in the area prior to the strike.
The military government, which operates the country’s only air force, has intensified air attacks on rebel-held territories. From January to late November this year, it carried out 2,165 air strikes, compared with 1,716 over the entirety of 2024, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Since the breakdown of a ceasefire in 2023, the Arakan Army has regained control of 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships, an area larger than Belgium, according to an analysis by Singapore’s ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.