Military Airstrike on Two Myanmar Schools Kills at Least 19, Including Students

Bangkok: At least 19 people were killed in an airstrike by Myanmar’s military on two private schools in Thayet Thapin village, Kyauktaw township.

Most of the deceased were students, according to a report by the Associated Press (AP). Over 20 people were injured in the attack, which occurred at night in the village.

The area is controlled by the ethnic Arakan Army in western Rakhine state.

The military has not announced any attack in the area, according to AP.

Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, told The Associated Press that a jet fighter dropped two bombs on Pyinnyar Pan Khinn and A Myin Thit Private High Schools.

He said most of the victims were “17- to 18-year-old students from the private schools.”

Internet and cellphone services in the area have been affected due to the situation.

Kyauktaw, located 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, was captured by the Arakan Army in February 2024.Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition.

After peaceful demonstrations were suppressed with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.

More than 7,200 people are estimated to have been killed by security forces since then, according to figures compiled by nongovernmental organizations.

The military government has recently intensified airstrikes against the armed pro-democracy People’s Defense Force.

The Arakan Army, the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It began its offensive in Rakhine in November 2023 and has since gained control of a strategically important regional army headquarters and 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships.

Wai Hun Aung, who directs relief work in Rakhine, told AP that those killed in the airstrike were among 30 to 40 boarders at the schools.

He said at least six houses near the schools were damaged, and 21 people were injured, including six in critical condition.

Rakhine, formerly known as Arakan, was the site of a brutal army counterinsurgency operation in 2017 that drove about 740,000 minority Rohingya Muslims to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh.

(With inputs from AP)