At least 19 students have been killed and 22 others injured after a junta air strike hit two private high schools in Kyauktaw township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, late Friday night.
The attack, which occurred just after midnight, was confirmed by the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic minority armed group locked in an intensifying conflict with Myanmar’s military. According to the AA’s statement released on Telegram, the victims were aged between 15 and 21 years, many of whom were asleep in their dormitories when the bombs struck.
“We feel as sad as the victims’ families for the death of the innocent students,” the group said, directly blaming the junta for the deadly strike.
Local media outlet Myanmar Now reported that a military warplane dropped two 500-pound bombs on the compound, flattening sections of the school and leaving dozens trapped under the rubble.
The incident has drawn widespread condemnation. In a statement, UNICEF described the strike as a “brutal attack” and warned that it adds to a “pattern of increasingly devastating violence in Rakhine State, with children and families paying the ultimate price.”
The latest bloodshed underscores the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Myanmar, which has spiraled into chaos since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021, sparking a nationwide armed resistance.
The Arakan Army has gained significant ground in Rakhine over the past year, seizing vast swathes of territory and putting additional pressure on the already overstretched military junta, which is battling resistance forces on multiple fronts across the country.
Independent verification of the incident remains difficult, as internet and telephone services in Kyauktaw are patchy, and access to the conflict zone is tightly restricted. Attempts by AFP to reach junta officials for comment went unanswered.
Myanmar’s military has frequently been accused by rights groups and international observers of using airstrikes and heavy artillery indiscriminately against civilian populations, a tactic that has deepened the humanitarian crisis and drawn accusations of war crimes.
The tragedy in Rakhine adds to the growing toll of Myanmar’s civil war, where children and students — once considered safe in classrooms — are increasingly caught in the crossfire.
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