Air strike on two Myanmar schools: 500-pound bombs dropped as students slept in Rakhine; 19 killed

At least 19 high school students were killed and 22 others injured in an air strike in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, ethnic armed group Arakan Army (AA) said on Saturday, reported news agency AFP.

The incident occurred around midnight on Friday in Kyauktaw township, where the AA and Myanmar’s military have been engaged in intense fighting.

According to a statement by the AA, the air strike hit two private high schools, killing students aged between 15 and 21. The group blamed the country’s ruling military junta for the attack.

“We feel as sad as the victims’ families for the death of the innocent students,” the AA said in its statement, as quoted by the agency.

While the military junta has not responded, local outlet Myanmar Now reported that a junta warplane dropped two 500-pound bombs on the school as students slept.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF condemned the strike, calling it a "brutal attack" and part of a worsening pattern of violence in the region.

“This adds to a pattern of increasingly devastating violence in Rakhine State, with children and families paying the ultimate price,” UNICEF said in a statement.

The air strike is the latest in a series of military operations in Rakhine, where the AA has captured significant territory over the past year. Myanmar has been in political and armed turmoil since the 2021 military coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, triggering a nationwide armed resistance.

Communication with the affected area remains limited due to patchy internet and phone access. The military has frequently been accused of using air and artillery strikes against civilian populations in conflict zones across the country.