The country’s junta said last Wednesday’s air strikes on a hospital in Mrauk-U in the western state of Rakhine were part of a counterterrorism operation targeting armed groups using the facility as a base for their operations.
More than 30 people – including patients, medical workers and children – were killed while about 80 were injured, according to a local rescuer cited by the Associated Press.
In a statement published by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the military said armed groups and the People’s Defence Force – pro-democracy militias formed after the army seized power in 2021 – were using the hospital as their base.
It added that the military carried out necessary security measures and launched a counterterrorism operation against the hospital buildings.
