In the nearly three weeks since Myanmar’s military declared a ceasefire to assist earthquake recovery, it has dropped more than 400 bombs on Rakhine state, according to an insurgent army in the country’s embattled west.
The state is home to one of Myanmar’s largest and most powerful ethnic rebel groups, the Arakan Army, or AA. It has seen escalating conflict in all 17 of its townships since Myanmar’s junta seized power from the country’s democratically-elected government in 2021.
“Instead of honoring their own declaration, junta forces launched 409 military attacks across Kyaukpyu, Taungup, Kyauktaw, Sittwe and Pauktaw townships between April 2–22,” the AA’s, Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office said in a statement released on Thursday.
The AA, which launched an offensive called Operation 1027 with two allied groups in late 2023, has captured 14 of the state’s 17 townships.
On Tuesday, the junta announced another week-long extension of the ceasefire, but the exiled civilian National Unity Government announced soon after that the junta had bombed 12 of the country’s 14 major regions in those three weeks alone, killing more than 160 people and injuring nearly 300 more.
Civilians experiencing the airstrikes told Radio Free Asia the ceasefire extension was “just a show.”
In Rakhine state alone, junta forces attacked with airstrikes, drones, shelling and heavy artillery, killing one civilian and injuring 28, including five children between the ages of five and 14, the AA said in a statement, claiming civilians were the main target.
The attack also damaged and destroyed 21 houses, two shops and one religious building.
