Myanmar junta airstrike kills at least 40 in Rakhine state

The Arakan Army fights Myanmar's military for Rakhine control, seizing territory and isolating the capital Sittwe.

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An air strike launched by the Myanmar junta killed at least 40 people in a village in western Rakhine state, a rescue worker and ethnic minority armed group told AFP on Thursday.

The Arakan Army (AA) is engaged in a fierce fight with the military for control of Rakhine, where it has seized swathes of territory in the past year, all but cutting off the capital Sittwe.

The Rakhine conflict is one element of the bloody chaos that has engulfed Myanmar since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in a 2021 coup, sparking a widespread armed uprising.

AA spokesperson Khaing Thu Kha told AFP that a military jet bombed Kyauk Ni Maw, on Ramree island, around 1:20 pm on Wednesday, starting a fire which engulfed more than 500 houses. “According to initial reports, 40 innocent civilians were killed and 20 were wounded,” he said.

A member of a local rescue group whose team was helping people in the area told AFP that 41 people were killed and 52 wounded.

“At the moment, we don’t even have enough betadine and methylated spirit to treat them as the transportation is hard,” the rescue worker said on condition of anonymity to protect their safety.