Airstrike near market in Myanmar’s Rakhine state kills 33 people — SkimNews
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- Myanmar's military fighter jet dropped two bombs near a market in Kyauktaw township, Rakhine state on September 28, 2026, killing at least 33 people — including vendors, shoppers, and pedestrians — and wounding 36 others, according to the Arakan Army, which controls the area
- Wai Hun Aung, a senior rescue official in Rakhine, confirmed the toll to The Associated Press and called it "one of the most severe airstrikes in Rakhine," noting the market was the region's main wholesale centre drawing traders from across the state
- The Arakan Army has captured 14 of Rakhine's 17 townships since launching its offensive in November 2023, and seized a strategically important regional military headquarters
- Myanmar's military did not immediately comment on the attack; it has previously maintained it strikes only legitimate military targets and has accused resistance groups of terrorism
- The military has imposed severe restrictions on trade routes since fighting intensified in Rakhine, worsening food shortages in the region
- A December airstrike on a hospital in Rakhine's Mrauk-U township killed at least 34 people and wounded 80 others, part of a broader pattern of deadly strikes on pro-democracy and ethnic armed groups since the 2021 coup
Why it matters: The strike hit a wholesale market that draws traders from across Rakhine in territory the military is steadily ceding — the Arakan Army now controls 14 of the state's 17 townships — meaning civilians at a regional economic hub are absorbing the violence of a war the military is losing on the ground. A December hospital strike already killed 34, and with trade restrictions worsening food shortages, the pattern shows airstrikes hitting civilian infrastructure as ground control slips.
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