UN Condemns Myanmar Military Junta Air Attack To Hospital In Rakhine

Illustration of Myanmar fighter jets. (Wikimedia Commons/M Radzi Desa)

JAKARTA - The United Nations on Thursday condemned the airstrikes carried out by Myanmar's military junta regarding hospitals in Rakhine State, leaving more than 30 civilians dead and injuring more than 70 others, including patients, nurses and medical staff.

At least 33 people were killed and 76 injured when Myanmar forces attacked a hospital in Mrauk-U, a town near the border with Bangladesh.

Myanmar's military junta has yet to recognize having carried out any operations in the area.

"The PBB is very concerned about the reports of airstrikes in Rakhine State yesterday," UN spokesman Farhan Haq told a news conference, quoted by Anadolu (12/12).

"The World Health Organization says that this is the 67th attack on health facilities in Myanmar that the agency has verified this year," he said.

"Medical and civilian facilities, including medical personnel, must be respected and protected," Haq stressed.

As previously reported, residents said the military junta jet dropped a 226 kilogram bomb at a public hospital in Mrauk-U City, coinciding with International Human Rights Day.

"The PBB condemns this attack, which is part of a broader pattern of attacks that cause harm to civilians and civilian objects that continue to destroy communities across the country," he added, calling on all parties to "obedient to their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law."

Stressing the "rapidly increasing" humanitarian need in Myanmar, Haq said: "The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, released yesterday, called for funds of USD 890 million, warning that 16.2 million people, including 5 million children, will need help and protection next year."

"Conflicts and disasters have displaced about 3.6 million people, with many forced to flee repeatedly," said Haq.

Meanwhile, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Representative Committee (CRPH), a former member of parliament representing the last elected Burmese parliament, condemned the attack and said the timing of the attack "only further highlighted the crimes that have long been committed by the military coup."

"We strongly condemn the inhumane actions of the violent military junta who are trying to gain legitimacy through false elections. This action only further highlights the crimes that have long been committed by the military coup," the group wrote on X's social media accounts.

Myanmar's military seized power on February 1, 2021, after accusing it of fraud in the 2020 general election, detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and senior officials. The coup sparked mass protests that were brutally persecuted and later developed into armed resistance.

According to human rights monitoring agencies, more than 6,000 people have died and nearly 3 million people have been displaced by fighting between the junta and opposition groups.

The ethnic clashes have exacerbated Myanmar's humanitarian crisis as the country is still hit by a civil conflict nearly four years after the February 2021 military coup.