At least 19 high school students were killed and more than 20 others injured in a Myanmar military airstrike at two private boarding schools in Kyauktaw township, in the western Rakhine state. The attack, according to the Arakan Army and relief agencies, struck late at night yesterday when students were sleeping.

 

 

The two schools targeted were Pyinnyar Pan Khinn High School and A Myin Thit High School. Both are private institutions, with many students boarding on site. The ages of the victims are reported to be between 15 and 21 years.

Local media outlet ‘Myanmar Now’ reported that a junta warplane dropped two 500-pound bombs on the high school. The schools, located in territory claimed by the Arakan Army-which is in conflict with the Myanmar junta-were severely damaged. In the aftermath, many houses nearby were also destroyed.

 

 

In a statement, UNICEF strongly condemned the strike, calling it a “brutal attack,” stressing that children and civilians are bearing a heavy toll in Rakhine’s ongoing conflict. 

 

 

The military is struggling to fight opposition on multiple fronts around Myanmar and it has been regularly accused of using air and artillery strikes to hit civilian communities.