At least 49 people have been killed and 58 were injured in a recent military air strike over a popular market in Kyauktaw township, western Rakhine state, Myanmar, local media reported. The fight took place on a Monday in an area where the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, is continuing to fight against the national army.

Local rescue officials verified the huge number of casualties, saying the targeted market is a key wholesale center in the region. At the time of the bombing it was a commercial district with a lot of people shopping and hawking daily.

The Arakan Army and officials in the region say this was one of the deadliest military airstrikes in recent months in Rakhine state. The situation of mass casualties in the affected areas in the conflict often poses great difficulties to the medical responders as well as to global health organizations such as the World Health Organization, as reflected in reports that at least 22 of the wounded survivors are in critical condition. There has been no official response or statement from the Myanmar military regarding the attack.

The country has suffered from armed fighting and civil unrest across the entire country since the military took over democratic control in February 2021. This aggressive takeover triggered widespread anti-governmental protesters throughout the country and ethnic armed groups joined forces with pro-democracy groups to resist the ruling junta on multiple fronts. The United Nations Human Rights Office and other security monitors across the globe have repeatedly warned of the increasing violence and its devastating impact on civilians.

In Rakhine state, in particular, Arakan Army has been actively fighting military forces to take over significant areas of this State. Local infrastructure has been wrecked and access to key trade routes is severely limited in the course of the extended conflict. As a result, food and essential daily needs remain scarce and the local population is in a vulnerable situation, always being reminded of these challenges by humanitarian organisations like the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).