Myanmar Military Bombs Kyaukto Market, 50 Dead
Aid workers say 50 people were killed around noon on Monday and 58 wounded. The final toll could be higher because some bodies were lost in fires.
Myanmar’s military bombed a riverside trading market and the bridge beside it in the town of Kyaukto, in western Rakhine State, around noon local time (5:30 GMT) on Monday, September 28. The death toll rose to 50 on Tuesday, September 29, and 58 people were wounded. According to agency reports, it was one of the deadliest bombings of the civil war in recent times.
Early reports put the number of dead at about 30. The new figure was confirmed by aid worker Wai Hun Aung, who told AFP:
“The death toll has reached 50, and 58 people have been injured.”
He warned that the final number of victims could be higher, because some bodies were lost in the fires that broke out after the bombing. Another local volunteer, who asked not to be named for security reasons, gave the same death toll. The news agencies could not get a comment from Myanmar’s military.
What does the Arakan Army say?
The Arakan Army, the ethnic rebel force that controls the area, said 22 of the wounded are in critical condition. According to a report carried by Free Malaysia Today, the group earlier on Tuesday put the toll at 49 dead and 58 wounded, while the Kuwait Times, in the same agency report, writes that it also spoke of 50 dead. Its statement said the victims were “innocent passersby, market vendors, shoppers and loaders.”
Families search for the dead
Families gathered under an open pavilion to identify their own. The bodies were covered with thin plastic sheeting or packed into plywood coffins. Aung Chay (49), who was looking for the body of his brother-in-law, said:
“Civilians were killed unjustly and I cannot bear to watch it. I don’t know where to find his body or whom to ask for help.”
He added: “My heart breaks to see our people dying.” As AFP reported, he also said he was deeply hurt and furious.
Why did this market matter?
The market and the neighboring bridge became a bustling trading hub after civil war broke out following the 2021 military coup. Rakhine is largely cut off from the rest of Myanmar and is among the hardest-hit regions. The market thrived on a river route to India, which became the area’s main link to the outside world.
The Arakan Army holds almost all of Rakhine, apart from a few town centers still defended by the military. The military has a fleet of combat aircraft made in Russia and China and launched an offensive this month. Its air force is accused of attacking civilians at schools, monasteries and religious celebrations, attacks that human rights groups say could amount to war crimes.
Su Mon, a senior analyst at the organization ACLED, said that only ten airstrikes on civilians killing more than 30 people have been recorded since 2022. She said:
“Rakhine has experienced the most mass killings by the military.”
In her words, the military is “eager to regain control of Rakhine,” and this month’s offensive “has not brought success on the battlefield.”
According to United Nations figures, nearly half a million people in Rakhine are displaced by the conflict. ACLED estimates that more than 100,000 people have been killed in Myanmar since the 2021 coup, which toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
