Sept 28 (Reuters) – Dozens of people were killed in a Myanmar military airstrike on Monday near a market in the country’s war-torn Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, according to a rebel group that controls the area and a local aid worker.
• At least 33 people have died and 36 were injured in the airstrike in the town of Kyauktaw in Rakhine state, according to the Arakan Army, a rebel group fighting the military.
• The number of victims was confirmed by aid worker Wai Hun Aung, who has a team operating in the area.
• Myanmar has been in turmoil since a 2021 coup triggered a civil war, with a collection of armed groups — including the Arakan Army — fighting the military across multiple frontlines.
• “This location is quite far from the fighting and has nothing to do with the conflict,” said Wai Hun Aung, referring to Kyauktaw, a riverside town located in the north of the state.
• Reuters could not independently verify the details of the incident.
• A spokesperson for the Myanmar government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The government has previously said the military “exercises maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm”.
• The Arakan Army and Wai Hun Aung said the airstrike at Kyauktaw was among the deadliest such incidents in Rakhine since an aerial attack at a hospital in the west of the state last December that killed at least 30 people.
(Reporting by Reuters staff, Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by David Stanway)
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