Since the 2021 military coup overthrowing the newly elected Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, Myanmar has been living under a state of civil war between the current state military junta, insurgent and rebel groups and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). Daily airstrikes are the new normality for civilians, facing a violent, dangerous, unpredictable which generates uncertainty. Rebel groups are adopting counterstrategies to fight the army back and regain control of the country, resulting in a greater escalation of violence affecting (once again) civilians.
In 2025 the attacks have intensified. From January to late November 2025 the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project registered 2,165 air strikes from the state military junta, compared with 1,716 in 2024. Multiple insurgent groups, allied with major ethnic armies (like the Arakan Army and TNLA) are leading the population’s dissent towards the forcefully installed military junta which conducts mass killings, repression and targeted attacks on schools and other vital infrastructure.
The last attack in western Myanmar targeted a Rakhine hospital, killing at least 33 people and wounding more than 70. Numbers are expected to change during the operations to retrieve bodies under the rubble. Firstly denounced by UN officials, rebel groups and witnesses, the attack was reclaimed by Myanmar’s military, recognising its involvement in such an operation. The military junta justified its attack by claiming that the Arakan Army and the People’s Defence Force (rebel entities) used the hospital as base for their operations. Thus, the claim is that the strike was an antiterrorist operation and conducted solely for state security.
On the other hand, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk does not accept this explanation, strongly condemning the attack and claiming it may constitute a serious war crime. International courts are then called to urgently investigate the military junta’s actions, since they are posing a serious threat to the population and conducting operations with impunity.
This attack targeted the Mrauk U General hospital, which is the principal hospital in the area for emergency care, obstetrics and surgical services, according to World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The Mrauk U General Hospital lies in ruins, unable to operate properly. The airstrike has cut off essential healthcare services for an area that was already a hot spot of conflict. Furthermore, at the moment of the attack, the hospital was overcrowded with patients due to difficulties for the other medical structures in the area to support incoming patients.
The situation remains critical in the whole Rakhine state. Latest developments in conflict and repression do not raise hope for a resolution in the near future, even more so considering the escalation of attacks since 2023, after the failed ceasefire attempt.
