At least 31 people were killed and dozens of others injured in Myanmar after an airstrike by the ruling junta hit a major hospital in the western state of Rakhine, according to witness, aid workers and the Arakan Army rebel group.
The hospital was struck by bombs dropped by a military aircraft late on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army said Thursday. The rebel group largely controls the state, which borders Bangladesh, but is still battling the military junta in parts.
"The Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed," Arakan Army's Khine Thu Kha told Reuters. "The high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit."
Several of those killed were patients. Around 70 others were injured, the ethnic minority separatist group said.
"The terrorist military council's air force dropped two bombs using a jet fighter," the rebel group said in a post on Telegram.
Aid worker Wai Hun Aung said the hospital was in complete ruins and bodies of victims lay on the ground, sharing unverified images of the scene with news agency Reuters. "The remaining patients have been moved to a safe location," he said.
The strike comes weeks before the military's set polling date for elections, December 28.
The junta is now fighting to take back territory lost to resistance groups, while the rebels have pledged to block elections in territories they control.
What you need to know about the conflict in Myanmar
The Arakan Army has been fighting the Myanmar government long before the junta overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically-elected government in 2021.
In the subsequent civil war, the Arakan Army has emerged as one of the most powerful groups opposed to the military junta
The junta has the only air force in Myanmar, which it is increasingly using to target rebel strongholds
Between January to November this year, the junta conducted 2,165 air strikes according to the Armed Conflict Location Event Data Project, up from 1,716 airstrikes last year
Several rebel groups, formed after the 2021 coup, have combined forces with ethnic armies like the Arakan Army to combat the military junta
The Arakan Army has pushed the junta out of 14 of Rakhine state's 17 townships since 2023, according to its spokesperson
