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At least 15 people, including a week-old newborn baby and three students, were killed in a series of airstrikes carried out by Myanmar’s military over the weekend, targeting a maternity clinic, a school and other civilian locations, according to local sources and rights groups.
The attacks took place in Rakhine and Kayah states amid escalating fighting between the military and armed resistance groups, Reuters reported on Monday.
On Sunday, Myanmar military aircraft carried out airstrikes across four townships in western Rakhine State, where fighting has intensified in recent weeks as the Arakan Army (AA) continues to expand its control over large parts of the region.
The attacks targeted Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Kyaukphyu and Pauktaw townships, killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, according to an Arakan Army spokesperson and a local aid worker.
In Mrauk-U Township, two fighter jets reportedly dropped four cluster bombs near a temporary medical clinic and maternity ward in Thammaraj Ward at around 5:27pm.
The attack killed five civilians, including a week-old baby girl, and injured nine others, including healthcare workers.
The clinic and nearby residential buildings were severely damaged.
The newborn, who had a surviving twin, was expected to return home with her family the following day.
However, she was killed when the clinic building collapsed following the bombing, local aid worker Wai Hun Aung said.
Earlier, at around 5:25pm, a military fighter jet bombed a bridge connecting Wa Taung and Pan Phe Chaung villages in Kyauktaw Township.
Seven people travelling across the bridge were killed and seven others injured. The bridge, nearby houses and several motorcycles were also destroyed or damaged.
In another attack, military aircraft bombed Sane Min Pyin village in Kyaukphyu Township, injuring 11 civilians.
An earlier airstrike on Pauktaw town and nearby Ywa Chaung Gyi village also left five people injured and damaged several houses.
Separately, three students were killed and five others injured when Myanmar military aircraft struck a school in Loikaw Township in eastern Kayah State on Saturday.
According to the Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG), the airstrike hit the school while classes were underway.
The military reportedly deployed a Y-12 transport aircraft and a fighter jet, dropping more than 20 bombs on the area.
Local sources said there were no military movements or clashes in the vicinity at the time of the attack.
Banyar Khun Aung, secretary of the Karenni Interim Executive Council, condemned the bombing, describing the targeting of a school where children were studying as an inhumane act that could amount to a war crime.
Myanmar’s military-backed government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has previously maintained that its military operations target groups it describes as terrorists.
Myanmar has remained in turmoil since the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering a prolonged civil war involving resistance groups and ethnic armed organisations.
The conflict has killed an estimated 100,000 people and displaced more than 3.5 million, according to United Nations estimates.
The military has increasingly relied on airstrikes as it struggles to regain territory controlled by opposition forces.
UN investigators in August accused Myanmar’s military of deliberately carrying out aerial attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.
Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations, saying the military exercises maximum restraint to avoid civilian casualties.
The latest attacks come a month after a wave of airstrikes in Rakhine’s Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships killed at least 58 people at camps for internally displaced civilians, drawing widespread international condemnation.
The conflict has also spilled over into neighbouring Thailand, prompting Thai fighter jets to conduct air patrols along the border after reported cross-border incidents damaged homes and injured civilians.
Editorial note: Reuters and other reports put the combined death toll at at least 15, not 16.
The 15 comprises 12 deaths in Rakhine and three students in Kayah.
