An ethnic armed group, a local, and local media said on Wednesday that about twenty persons were injured in a military air strike by Myanmar on a medical center in western Rakhine state.
Since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November, a ceasefire that had mainly lasted since the overthrow of a military junta in 2021, has been shattered by clashes in Rakhine.
In addition to occupying area near the borders with Bangladesh and India, AA fighters have increased the strain on the junta as it fights rivals throughout the Southeast Asian nation.
“I heard a very loud sound of jet fighters flying last night then I heard explosions around midnight,” a resident of Wea Gyi Htaunt village, near the town of Kyauktaw, told AFP.
“As soon as I knew it was an air strike, our family fled our house and hid in the woods,” she said, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
“I heard that tens of people who were outpatients, medical staff, and local villagers, got injured.”
At least 20 people, including outpatients, carers and staff were wounded in the attack that came shortly after midnight, the AA said on its Telegram account.
It stated that the clinic had been nearly completely damaged and that five of those people were critically injured.
The attack was also reported by the local media, which stated that 15 persons were hurt.
The local claimed that the clinic, which is close to Wea Gyi Htaunt, was previously managed by the AA.
She stated the neighborhood had been routinely shelled by the troops in recent days.
It’s really hard to communicate with Rakhine because most mobile networks are down.
The junta has been contacted by AFP for comment.
Several armed ethnic minority groups, including the AA, have fought the military for autonomy and control over valuable resources in Myanmar’s border regions since the country’s 1948 independence from Britain.
The AA says it is seeking for increased autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine people living in the state.
The UN’s human rights commissioner said last month that since the beginning in November, fighting had spread to 15 of the 17 townships in Rakhine state.
Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded and more than 300,000 displaced, it said.
Clashes between the AA and the military in 2019 roiled the region and displaced around 200,000 people.
The military launched a crackdown on the Rohingya minority there in 2017 which is now the subject of a United Nations genocide court case.
