The Myanmar junta’s recent air strikes on a hospital just days before a general election this month are aimed at securing more territory and “intimidating” voters while major powers look the other way due to their own economic and strategic interests, according to analysts.
The country’s junta said last Wednesday’s air strikes on a hospital in Mrauk-U in the western state of Rakhine were part of a counterterrorism operation targeting armed groups using the facility as a base for their operations.
More than 30 people – including patients, medical workers and children – were killed while about 80 were injured, according to a local rescuer cited by the Associated Press.
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In a statement published by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the military said armed groups and the People’s Defence Force – pro-democracy militias formed after the army seized power in 2021 – were using the hospital as their base.
It added that the military carried out necessary security measures and launched a counterterrorism operation against the hospital buildings.
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