Myanmar airstrike death toll climbs to 50

The death toll from a military airstrike in western Myanmar rose to 50 on Tuesday, according to two local aid workers, a day after the attack hit a crowded market.

Witnesses said the military bombed the riverside commercial hub in Kyauktaw town, Rakhine state, around midday on Monday, killing around 30 people initially.

“The death toll has reached 50, while 58 people were injured,” aid worker Wai Hun Aung said, warning that the number of fatalities could rise as some bodies were reportedly lost in fires triggered by the bombing.

A second local volunteer confirmed the same death toll but spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

Myanmar’s military could not immediately be reached for comment on the attack.

The Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic rebel group that controls the area, said earlier Tuesday that 49 people had been killed and 58 wounded, including 22 in critical condition.

Those killed included “innocent passersby, market vendors, shoppers and cargo loaders”, the group said in a statement.

The market and a nearby bridge struck in Monday’s attack had become a major trading centre since Myanmar’s civil war erupted following the 2021 military coup. Rakhine has faced some of the conflict’s worst conditions, remaining largely cut off from the rest of the country, while the market grew around a river trade route to India that had become a vital lifeline.

The AA controls most of Rakhine, apart from several urban areas still held by the military, which operates fighter jets manufactured by Russia and China.

The military’s air force has also been accused of carrying out attacks on civilians at schools, monasteries and religious gatherings. Rights groups have said some of these attacks could amount to war crimes.

UN data shows that nearly half a million people have been displaced in Rakhine by the conflict.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in Myanmar’s conflict since the 2021 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, according to conflict monitor ACLED.