Army spokesperson says hospital \u201ccompletely destroyed\u201d as strike directly hit it
\n Naypyidaw
\nAt least 30 people were killed, including patients, after an airstrike by the country\u2019s ruling junta hit a major hospital in Myanmar\u2019s western Rakhine state, according to a rebel group, an aid worker and a witness said on Thursday.
\nMore than 70 people were injured, they said.
\nThe hospital in Rakhine\u2019s Mrauk U township was struck late on Wednesday by bombs dropped by a military aircraft, said Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the Arakan Army, which is battling the ruling junta along parts of the coastal state.
\n\u201cThe Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed,\u201d Khine Thu Kha told Reuters. \u201cThe high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit.\u201d
\nA junta spokesman did not respond to calls for comment.
\nMyanmar has been gripped by conflict since the military suppressed protests against a 2021 coup that unseated the elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
\nThe 300-bed hospital was overflowing with patients at the time of the strike, said aid worker Wai Hun Aung, as most healthcare services across swathes of Rakhine state have been suspended amid the ongoing fighting.
\nHospital in ruins
\nOn Thursday morning, the facility lay in complete ruins, with a collapsed roof, shattered columns and beams, and the bodies of victims laid out on the ground, according to images shared by Wai Hun Aung that he also posted on social media.
\nReuters could not immediately verify the images. \u201cThe remaining patients have been moved to a safe location,\u201d he told Reuters.
\nSoon after he heard the sound of explosions on Wednesday night, a 23-year-old resident of Mrauk U said he rushed to the site.
\n\u201cWhen I arrived, the hospital was on fire,\u201d he said, asking not to be named because of security concerns. \u201cI saw many bodies lying around and many injured people.\u201d
\nThe junta, which has the only air force in Myanmar, has been increasingly using airstrikes to hit targets inside rebel-held areas.
\nFrom January to late November this year, the junta conducted 2,165 airstrikes, compared to 1,716 such incidents during the whole of 2024, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
\nResistance groups formed in the wake of the coup have combined with major ethnic armies like the Arakan Army to take on the military, which is fighting the rebellion on multiple frontlines.
\nSince the breakdown of a ceasefire in 2023, the Arakan Army has pushed the military out of 14 of Rakhine\u2019s 17 townships, gaining control of an area larger than Belgium, according to an analysis published by the ISEAS\u2013Yusof Ishak Institute.
\nMrauk-U township, located in the north of Rakhine state, has been under the control of the Arakan Army since last year and there has been no recent fighting in the area, Khine Thu Kha said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Army spokesperson says hospital \u201ccompletely destroyed\u201d as strike directly hit it Naypyidaw At least 30 people were killed, including patients, after an airstrike by the country\u2019s ruling junta hit a major hospital in Myanmar\u2019s western Rakhine state, according to a rebel group, an aid worker and a witness said on Thursday. More than 70 people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-519517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n