Bangkok, Sept. 13 — At least 19 students, including children, have been killed in a junta air strike on schools in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, according to the Arakan Army (AA).
The ethnic minority armed group, which has been battling Myanmar’s military for control of Rakhine, said the attack occurred just after midnight on Friday in Kyauktaw township. Two private high schools were hit, leaving 19 students aged between 15 and 21 dead and at least 22 others wounded.
Local media outlet Myanmar Now reported that a military warplane dropped two 500-pound bombs on one of the schools while students were sleeping. UNICEF condemned the strike as a “brutal attack” that fits a pattern of escalating violence in Rakhine, where “children and families are paying the ultimate price.”
The Arakan Army accused the junta of carrying out the deadly raid, though AFP said repeated calls to a military spokesman went unanswered. The attack comes amid intensifying conflict across Myanmar since the army’s 2021 coup, which toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government and triggered widespread armed resistance.
Internet and phone access remain patchy in parts of Kyauktaw, making independent verification difficult. The junta, facing simultaneous offensives from multiple ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy militias, has frequently been accused of targeting civilian communities with air and artillery strikes.
