Airstrike on hospital in rebel-controlled area of Myanmar kills 34, injures 80

An airstrike by Myanmar 's military destroyed a hospital in an area controlled by a leading rebel armed force, killing 34 patients and medical staff, according to a rescue worker and independent media reports Thursday.

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About 80 other people were injured in the attack Wednesday night on the general hospital in Mrauk-U township, an area controlled by the ethnic Arakan Army in the western state of Rakhine.

The military, which took over Myanmar's government in 2021 and has been fighting ethnic militias and armed resistance forces since then, has not mentioned any attack in the area.

Wai Hun Aung, a senior official for rescue services in Rakhine, told The Associated Press that a jet fighter dropped two bombs at 9:13 p.m. with one hitting the hospital's recovery ward and the other landing near the hospital's main building.

He said he arrived at the hospital early Thursday to provide assistance and recorded the deaths of 17 women and 17 men. He said that most of the hospital building was destroyed by the bombs, and taxis and motorbikes near the hospital were also damaged.