Myanmar military airstrike on a hospital kills 31 days after tea shop strike

The overnight strike was conducted on a hospital in Mrauk-U town of western Rakhine state in Myanmar.

An airstrike conducted by the military junta in Myanmar on a hospital has resulted in the death of 31 people and left 68 people injured.

A series of frequent and deadly aerial attacks has been happening, allegedly targeting armed pro-democracy forces. (Representative)

The military has increased air strikes year-on-year since the start of Myanmar's civil war after the military snatched power in a 2021 putsch, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy, AFP reported, quoting conflict monitors.

"The situation is very terrible. As for now, we can confirm there are 31 deaths, and we think there will be more deaths. Also, there are 68 wounded and will be more and more," AFP quoted aid worker Wai Hun Aung as saying while reporting an overnight strike on a hospital in Mrauk-U town of western Rakhine state.

This comes after an air strike last week by Myanmar’s military on a tea shop in the country’s upper-central region of Sagaing killed at least 18 civilians and wounded 20 others.

The Myanmar military has set polls to start on December 28, stating that the vote is a way to end the fighting. But rebels have pledged to block it from the territory they control, which the military is battling to claw back as the fighting rages on.

The tea shop airstrike

On December 5, an attack occurred on a tea shop , shortly after 8 PM, in Mayakan village in Tabayin township. The village, located about 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, is better known by its old name, Depayin.

The villager, who rushed to the site of the attack to help the victims, told The Associated Press that a five-year-old child and two schoolteachers were among those killed in the attack in the tea shop where dozens of people gathered to watch the Myanmar vs Philippines football tournament on a television.

Tea shops in Myanmar are essentially the equivalent of the West’s neighbourhood coffee shops, where people linger over cups of sweet tea, gather to talk, eat, and stay connected to community life.