Myanmar’s military confirmed an airstrike on a hospital in Rakhine, claiming it targeted armed groups.
According to AP, rescuers say more than 30 patients and medical workers were killed in the attack.
The UN and WHO say the strike reflects a wider pattern of harm to civilians across Myanmar.
Myanmar’s military has acknowledged carrying out an airstrike on a hospital in the western state of Rakhine, an attack that local rescue workers and media reports say killed more than 30 people, including patients, medical staff and children.
In a statement published in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, the military’s information office said armed groups were operating out of the hospital complex. It claimed that the ethnic Arakan Army and the People’s Defence Force — pro-democracy militias formed after the military takeover in 2021 — had used the hospital as a base.
According to the statement, the military launched what it described as “necessary security measures” and a counter-terrorism operation against the hospital buildings on Wednesday (December 10, 2025). It asserted that those killed or injured were armed members of opposition groups and their supporters, and not civilians.
However, a senior rescue services official in Rakhine gave a different account. According to AP, the official said on Thursday (December 11, 2025) that 34 people were killed and about 80 others injured when a military jet dropped two bombs on the general hospital in Mrauk-U township. Those killed included patients and medical workers, the official said, adding that the hospital building was destroyed in the attack on Wednesday night.
Mrauk-U township is currently under the control of the Arakan Army. AP reported that the town, located about 530 kilometres northwest of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, was captured by the group in February 2024.
The United Nations said on Thursday that the strike was part of a broader pattern of attacks causing harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure across Myanmar. In a statement, it said such strikes were devastating communities throughout the country.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said in a post on X that he was “appalled” by the attack on the hospital, which provided primary healthcare. He warned that the destruction of the facility would disrupt access to health services for entire communities.
The Arakan Army, the armed wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement seeking autonomy from Myanmar’s central government, has intensified its campaign in recent years. AP reported that the group began a major offensive in Rakhine in November 2023 and has since seized a strategically important regional military headquarters and 14 of the state’s 17 townships.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Arakan Army said it would pursue accountability in cooperation with international organisations to ensure justice and take “strong and decisive action” against the military.
The group also said in separate statements that the military carried out a series of night-time airstrikes in five towns across Rakhine following the hospital attack. According to AP, at least eight civilians were killed and 10 others wounded in those strikes.
Myanmar has remained in turmoil since the military seized power in 2021, sparking widespread opposition. Many opponents of military rule have since taken up arms, and large parts of the country are now affected by ongoing conflict, AP reported.
(With inputs from PTI)
