A devastating airstrike by Myanmar’s ruling junta has left at least 31 people dead and scores injured after a major hospital in the western state of Rakhine was hit, according to witnesses, aid workers, and the Arakan Army rebel group.
The attack occurred late on Wednesday, December 10, when a military aircraft reportedly dropped bombs directly on Mrauk U General Hospital. The Arakan Army which now controls much of Rakhine but continues to clash with junta forces said the facility was completely wiped out.
“The hospital was completely destroyed… the heavy casualties came from the direct strike,” the group’s spokesman, Khine Thu Kha, told Reuters.
Among the dead were several patients who could not be evacuated in time, while around 70 others sustained injuries, the group added.
They claimed the junta’s air force released two bombs from a jet fighter, posting details on Telegram.
Aid worker Wai Hun Aung described the scene as catastrophic, saying the hospital had collapsed into rubble, with victims’ bodies scattered outside. He shared images with Reuters, though they remain unverified. Survivors were later moved to a safer location.
The airstrike lands just weeks before the junta’s scheduled election date of December 28, a vote resistance factions have vowed to disrupt across areas under their influence.
As the military struggles to reclaim territories lost to rebels, the violence continues to intensify, tightening the storm around a nation already fractured by conflict.
