A Myanmar military airstrike on a market in the western town of Kyauktaw killed around 50 people on Monday, according to the Arakan Army (AA), the rebel group that controls the area, and local rescue workers. The AA reported 49 civilians dead, rescuers said 50, and both put the number of injured at 58, many of them seriously. The military has not commented, and the figures cannot be independently verified. The opposition outlet Democratic Voice of Burma reported that the "Indian Market" beside the bridge over the Kaladan River was hit at midday. The bridge links Kyauktaw with other AA-held towns.
The attack fits a pattern that residents, researchers and United Nations bodies describe as escalating. Rakhine State, on Myanmar's western coast facing the Bay of Bengal and known historically as Arakan, is now largely under AA control. The group holds 14 of the state's 17 townships and the 271-kilometre border with Bangladesh. The military retains only the state capital Sittwe, the port town of Kyaukphyu and Manaung island, areas it can reach only by air or sea. Since September 4 it has pursued a multi-front counteroffensive, reported as Operation 4926, which reaches into neighbouring Magway and Ayeyarwady regions. Reinforcements of about 1,000 soldiers were sent to the Sittwe area, and several nearby locations were bombed before the Kyauktaw strike.
A defected military major told The Diplomat that airstrikes on populated areas in Rakhine would increase, because the army needs to defend its three remaining enclaves. He said the military now uses suicide drones extensively and has better surveillance than five years ago. Some Rakhine academics and journalists believe air power is being used to wear down armed resistance and pressure civilians in order to extract political concessions. A UN report found that airstrikes were the leading cause of civilian deaths in Myanmar in 2025, with at least 982 killed, including 232 children, a 52 percent rise on 2024. The conflict-monitoring group ACLED links the trend to tactics under a new military chief, including repeated strikes on the same target by small groups of jets. UN investigators also cite low-cost aircraft such as motorised paragliders and "double-tap" attacks, where a second strike hits first responders and people fleeing.
The human toll extends beyond single incidents. In February, two 500-pound bombs hit a market in Yoe Ngu village in Ponnagyun township, killing at least 17 people; survivors then slept in open fields for fear of further raids. In December 2025, a strike on the Mrauk U hospital killed 33 people. The AA leader, Twan Mrat Naing, said the military wants to negotiate from a position of strength but that the group will not yield to pressure.
The war began after the military seized power on 1 February 2021 and crushed peaceful protest, pushing opposition underground, where it joined long-established ethnic armies. Around 100,000 people have died since then, and 3.6 million are displaced inside the country. The AA, founded in 2009 and estimated at up to 45,000 fighters, gained territory in 2024 after seizing weapons as part of a three-group alliance. It has no air force or air defences, which leaves civilians in its territory exposed. Rohingya, a Muslim minority long persecuted in Rakhine, are also caught between the fronts, with reports that the army forcibly conscripts them.