UN chief "strongly condemns" Myanmar airstrike that killed 50

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns” the Myanmar military airstrike that killed 50 people in the town of Kyauktaw, his spokesman said at a UN briefing in New York on Tuesday.

“The secretary-general strongly condemns the attacks and calls on all parties to end the violence immediately, to protect civilians and comply with their obligations under international law,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters. Guterres also urged all sides to give the UN and aid workers “safe, sustained and unimpeded” access to deliver humanitarian assistance.

Dujarric said the continuing violence in Rakhine state showed conditions did not exist for the safe return of refugees and displaced people to Myanmar. “This latest airstrike brings that reality into sharp focus,” he said.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the strike underlined the “grave plight faced by civilians across the country — but none more so than in Rakhine state”, noting the casualty count was expected to rise.

Monday’s midday strike hit the riverside commercial hub of Kyauktaw, near the border with Bangladesh, killing 50 people and wounding at least 58, the Arakan Army said. The group accused the military of “deliberately targeting densely populated markets, schools, civilians, and residential buildings”. A Myanmar government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Myanmar has been locked in civil war since the 2021 coup, a conflict that has killed around 100,000 people and displaced more than 3.5 million, Reuters reported.