the Irrawaddy

 

Just days before Myanmar’s junta pushes ahead with an election widely dismissed as a sham, the military has carried out one of its deadliest strikes of the year. A hospital in Mrauk‑U, Rakhine State, was bombed late on Wednesday, killing 33 people and injuring around 80, according to local officials and the Arakan Army (AA).

 

The attack hit Mrauk‑U General Hospital at around 9pm, on a day marked globally as Human Rights Day. Witnesses say two 500‑pound bombs were dropped—one on the patient ward, the other on the pharmacy. The facility, one of the best equipped in the region, was full at the time. By Thursday morning, it lay in ruins, its roof collapsed and bodies laid out in the courtyard.

 

The AA, which seized control of Mrauk‑U last year, said the strike was a deliberate attack on civilians. Its spokesperson, Khaing Thu Kha, accused the junta of “war crimes” and warned that the group would retaliate. Local author Wai Hin Aung, who is documenting casualties, said the toll is likely to rise, with some victims unidentifiable due to the severity of the blast.

 

International condemnation was swift. The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the strike “may amount to a war crime” and called for an investigation. Amnesty International described the attack as further evidence of the military’s “utter disregard” for civilian life, noting that airstrikes in Myanmar have reached record levels this year.

 

The hospital bombing is the latest in a pattern of increasingly brutal attacks. An AA report published in October recorded 443 civilians killed and more than 1,000 injured in junta airstrikes across Rakhine State since late 2023. Schools, villages and religious sites have all been hit. Only last week, a teashop in Sagaing Region was bombed while residents watched a women’s football match, killing at least 18.

 

Myanmar’s military has been losing ground across Rakhine since a ceasefire collapsed in 2023. The AA now controls 14 of the state’s 17 townships, an area larger than Belgium. Analysts say the junta is relying heavily on air power as it struggles to hold territory, conducting more than 2,100 airstrikes this year alone.

 

The United States called the reports “deeply disturbing” and urged the junta to stop targeting civilians and allow humanitarian access. Washington also repeated calls for dialogue with opposition groups—something the military has so far rejected.

 

For residents of Mrauk‑U, the immediate concern is survival. Healthcare services across the region have collapsed, and the hospital’s remaining patients were moved to makeshift shelters overnight. One young resident who rushed to the scene described “bodies everywhere” and a building engulfed in flames.

 

As Myanmar edges towards an election that few expect to be credible, the violence shows no sign of easing. For civilians trapped between the junta and resistance forces, the fear is that Wednesday’s attack is a grim preview of what lies ahead.

 

-2025-12-12

On 12/12/2025 at 9:53 AM, geovalin said:

443 civilians killed and more than 1,000 injured in junta airstrikes across Rakhine State since late 2023.

War a la Putin style.

Currently acceptable by the US. 

On 12/12/2025 at 9:53 AM, geovalin said:

International condemnation was swift. The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said the strike “may amount to a war crime” and called for an investigation.

 

Fat lot of good this will do !  Years of condemnations and investigations, and still no SAMs, the only effective deterrent.