JAKARTA Myanmar's military airstrikes at schools last week killed 19 students. The war-torn country's ruling military junta stepped up military operations to retake the region ahead of a planned general election in December.
Children were killed and injured at a boarding school in Kyauktaw Township in Myanmar's turbulent Rakhine state, the UN children's agency UNICEF said.
It did not say how many were killed in the incident, but the Arakan Army, a militia fighting the military in the western state, said 19 people, aged between 15 and 21, were killed.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the report, as internet and mobile services in several areas of Rakhine have been cut off by Myanmar's junta.
A military spokesman did not answer a phone call for comment.
"The attack adds to the increasingly severe pattern of violence in Rakhine State, with children and families suffering from the consequences," UNICEF said.
Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh, has witnessed months of fierce fighting between the military and the Arakan Army, which wants greater autonomy for the coastal province.
Rakhine has long been one of Myanmar's most problematic states, where the World Food Program has warned of rising hunger and malnutrition, including among the Rohingya Muslim minority community who have been persecuted by local governments successively.
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