Eight civilians were killed and at least 10 others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Ngalonesu village of Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, on Thursday, the Arakan Army (AA) reported. Kyaukphyu, located 317 miles (510 km) south of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, is contested between the AA and regime forces.
A Kyaukphyu resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that two of the eight killed were people who had fled their homes due to fighting between AA and regime forces and were living at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. Two bombs were dropped on Ngalonesu village, according to the AA.
These airstrikes on Kyaukphyu come one day after at least 33 civilians were killed and 76 others were injured by airstrikes on the Mrauk-U General Hospital. Mrauk-U Township, located 88-229 miles (142-369 km) northeast and south of Sittwe and Kyaukphyu, was seized by the AA in February 2024.
The National Unity Government (NUG), a group representing elected lawmakers ousted in the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, condemned the airstrikes on the hospital in Mrauk-U, vowing to seek justice for all the victims of the regime’s crimes.
“This is the 67th attack on health facilities in Myanmar this year. This cannot be normalized,” said Tom Fletcher, the Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).
The U.N. stated that it is deeply alarmed by the attack. It called on all parties to “observe obligations under international humanitarian and international human rights law,” while highlighting the fact that Arakan is in need of a large humanitarian response.
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights accused the regime of committing a war crime by attacking a hospital. Under international law, the targeting of civilian infrastructure like hospitals is considered a crime.
The regime in Naypyidaw has not acknowledged that it struck the hospital in Mrauk-U, which was placed under martial law, along with 13 other townships seized by the AA, when it lifted the nationwide state of emergency on July 31.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that airstrikes on the hospital in Mrauk-U were an “attack on humanity” that will “disrupt access to healthcare for entire communities.”
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), a group of international human rights experts, stated that the regime is escalating attacks on civilians ahead of its 2025-26 elections scheduled to begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026.
It added that the international community, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), must take urgent action to stop the regime’s atrocities by blocking its access to weapons, jet fuel, and finances.
“By bombing areas outside its control, the junta is also sending a terrifying message to people within its direct reach. This is gerrymandering through atrocities,” said Yanghee Lee, a founding member of SAC-M and the former U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.
The AA claimed that the regime is deliberately targeting civilians at public gathering places, hospitals, clinics, schools, and markets.
It added that 192 civilians have been killed, 502 others have been injured, and 596 homes have been destroyed by 92 regime airstrikes on Sittwe, Pauktaw, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Ann, Taungup, Ramree, Kyaukphyu, Gwa townships in Arakan, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chinland, which was seized by the AA in 2024, over the last year.
The AA called on the international community to stop the regime from committing crimes against humanity in Arakan. It launched its post-2021 military coup offensive against regime forces on Nov. 13, 2023. Sittwe and the island of Manaung remain fully under regime control.
At least 1,724 civilians have been killed and 3861 others have been injured in 1,852 aerial attacks carried out by the regime’s Air Force since the earthquake on March 28, according to DVB data.
