Myanmar military airstrike near market kills at least 49 in Rakhine state

An airstrike carried out by Myanmar’s military near a market in territory controlled by a powerful rebel group killed at least 49 people and wounded 58 others on Monday, according to representatives of the group and a rescue official.

The attack in western Rakhine state was the latest in a series of deadly airstrikes against pro-democracy resistance forces and ethnic armed groups across the country.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February, 2021, triggering widespread opposition.

After security forces suppressed peaceful protests with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, plunging large parts of the country into conflict.

Monday’s attack occurred in Kyauktaw township, about 340 kilometres west of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, according to the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic armed group based in Rakhine which controls Kyauktaw.

The Arakan Army said in a statement released early on Tuesday that a fighter jet dropped two bombs near a local market around noon, killing vendors, shoppers and pedestrians. The group said 58 other people were injured, 22 of them critically. Details of the attack could not be independently verified.

The statement said the group "will take effective retaliatory measures soon against the individuals and organisations directly responsible for the attacks involving deliberate airstrikes that have caused mass casualties."

Wai Hun Aung, a senior rescue official in Rakhine, confirmed the casualties to The Associated Press, citing rescue workers at the scene. He said the market was the region’s main wholesale centre, drawing traders and shoppers from across the state.

“This is one of the most severe airstrikes in Rakhine,” he said. Photos and videos posted on social media showed buildings on fire, damaged vehicles and parts of a nearby bridge destroyed.

The military did not immediately comment on the attack, though it has routinely stated in previous instances that it strikes only legitimate military targets and has accused resistance groups of terrorism.

The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of a movement seeking autonomy for Rakhine’s ethnic minority from Myanmar’s central government.

It launched an offensive in Rakhine in November 2023 and has since captured a strategically important regional military headquarters and 14 of the state’s 17 townships.

The military has imposed severe restrictions on trade routes since fighting intensified in Rakhine, worsening food shortages.

In December, a military airstrike on a hospital in Rakhine’s Mrauk-U township killed at least 34 people and wounded 80 others.