Myanmar Airstrikes Kill 15 Including Newborn at Clinic

Myanmar airstrikes over the weekend killed at least 15 people, including a week-old baby girl, after military aircraft hit a makeshift maternity clinic in Rakhine State and a school in Kayah State, according to an ethnic armed group, an aid worker and rights monitors quoted by Reuters.

A spokesperson for Myanmar's military-backed government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has previously said it is fighting a legitimate campaign against "terrorists".

Clinic hit in Mrauk-U

On November 1, airstrikes hit four townships in western Rakhine State. Targets included a bridge in Kyauktaw, locations in Kyaukpyu and Pauktaw, and a makeshift clinic and maternity ward in Arakan Army-held Mrauk-U. At least 12 people were killed and 32 wounded, an Arakan Army spokesperson and an aid worker said.

The baby, a surviving twin, was crushed and killed when the building collapsed from the blast, Mrauk-U aid worker Wai Hun Aung said. Four other people, including healthcare workers, were also killed.

School bombed near the Thai border

A day earlier, an airstrike on Loikaw in Kayah State, near the Thai border, hit a school, killing three students and wounding five, the Karenni Human Rights Group said. The group and Banyar Khun Aung of the Karenni Interim Executive Council said a Y-12 transport aircraft and a fighter jet dropped more than 20 bombs. He described the attack as a war crime.

Spillover concerns for Thailand

Thailand's government has said Thai fighter jets are carrying out air patrols as the conflict spills across the border, where homes have been damaged and at least one person on the Thai side was injured. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Bangkok has urged Myanmar to exercise caution so the fighting does not affect Thailand.

A war that has displaced millions

Myanmar has been at war since the 2021 coup, and Min Aung Hlaing, who led it, is now president. Key figures from the report:

• the UN estimates about 100,000 people have been killed;
• more than 3.5 million people have been displaced;
• UN investigators in August accused the military of deliberate aerial attacks on schools and hospitals;
• Myanmar's foreign ministry has said its forces exercise "maximum restraint".

The strikes follow attacks a month earlier on displacement camps in Rakhine that killed at least 58 people.

Related reading: our guides on Thai immigration rules for Myanmar citizens, Little Myanmar in Bangkok and Thailand's border visa changes.

Photo: Pagodas of Mrauk-U, Rakhine State (file), by Gerd Eichmann / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.