Airstrike Levels Mrauk U Hospital, Dozens Killed and Wounded

Late on Wednesday evening, a military aircraft reportedly dropped bombs on Mrauk U General Hospital in northern Rakhine state, destroying the facility and killing and injuring dozens, according to local rescue workers, the Arakan Army and multiple independent media outlets. The Arakan Army health department placed the strike at about 9:00 p.m. local time, and on site rescue officials who spoke with The Associated Press counted 34 dead, including 17 women and 17 men.

Accounts of the attack vary in detail. The Arakan Army and its spokesman Khine Thu Kha said the hospital was hit directly by bombs dropped from a jet fighter. Reuters and other outlets quoted Khine Thu Kha as saying, "The Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed." The AA health department said 10 hospital patients were "killed on the spot." On site aid worker Wai Hun Aung told several outlets that a military jet bombed the hospital, and Rakhine based media posted photos and videos showing collapsed buildings, scattered debris and destroyed medical equipment.

Casualty estimates differ across reports. The AP and ABC News on site teams reported 34 dead, while other outlets described at least 31 fatalities. Injury figures range from dozens to roughly 70 to 80 people, with the Arakan Army saying about 70 injured and ABC listing about 80 wounded. Independent verification of the precise numbers and of the ordnance used has not been reported at this stage, and Myanmar’s ruling military junta had not publicly confirmed or commented on the attack at the time of reporting.

Mrauk U General Hospital had been a primary source of health care for the region, and several outlets described it as a roughly 300 bed facility. Its destruction compounds severe shortages in Rakhine, where many hospitals have closed because of the country’s protracted civil conflict. The strike occurred in an area where the Arakan Army has, according to multiple reports and conflict monitors, driven junta forces from much of the state, controlling the majority of townships in Rakhine.

The attack comes amid an intensifying junta offensive as the military prepares national elections scheduled to begin on December 28. The junta has presented the vote as a means to reduce fighting while rebel groups formed after the 2021 coup, including the Arakan Army, have said they will seek to block polls in areas they control. Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government condemned the strike, according to ABC, and local rescue groups and the Arakan Army publicly attributed responsibility to junta air forces.

Photographs and video circulated online by local media documented significant damage and were cited by international outlets, but independent monitors have not yet confirmed the attribution of the strike to a military jet or the type of ordnance used. The attack further highlights the acute risks to civilians and medical facilities in Rakhine as the conflict escalates ahead of the elections.