An airstrike by the Myanmar junta killed 28 people, including nine children, at a temporary detention area in western Rakhine state, a local ethnic minority rebel group said.
The Arakan Army (AA) posted on its Telegram channel that a military jet bombed a detention area in Mrauk-U Township at about 4.45pm local time on Saturday.
The AA, in conflict with the country’s military, had reportedly detained family members of junta soldiers during fighting.
However, it was not clear if the airstrike in Mrauk-U Township in western Rakhine state was mistargeted or if the junta was unaware of the location of the detained family members.
“Those who were killed and wounded were family members of soldiers in Myanmar’s Army. We arrested them during the fighting,” the AA claimed. The strike also injured 25 people.
“As we were preparing a plan to release them, they were bombed,” the rebel group added. The military-ruled government has consistently denied carrying out attacks on civilians.
Those killed in the air strike included nine children, one of whom was a two-year-old boy, as well as several women, according to a list shared by the AA.
The Arakan Army is the military arm of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, aiming for autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It is part of an alliance of armed groups that recently expanded in Myanmar’s northeast, near the China border.
Since 1 February 2021, when the military junta took over Myanmar, the country has been embroiled in conflict including armed rebellion against the military. The ouster of a democratically-elected government by the junta ignited armed resistance, with rebel forces now in control of massive portions of the country.
This has led to millions in the country being displaced.
The UN has warned that Rakhine state is nearing famine due to the conflict, and over 3.5 million people have been displaced across Myanmar.
Saturday’s air strike came about a week after at least 40 civilians, including children, were killed in another airstrike by Myanmar’s military on a village controlled by the ethnic armed group.
The attack took place in Kyauk Ni Maw village on Ramree Island, a township under the control of the Arakan Army in western Rakhine state. The bombing also sparked a large fire in the densely populated village, reportedly destroying at least 500 homes.
