50 people were killed in a military jet airstrike on a market in Myanmar

The death toll from a Myanmar military airstrike on a bridge and crowded market in Kyauktaw, Rakhine State, has risen to 50, with nearly 60 people injured, according to the Arakan Army (AA). The attack, carried out on Monday afternoon, ranks as the regime’s deadliest aerial assault on civilians in the state.

A junta fighter jet bombed the Kissapanadi (Kaladan) Bridge and the busy Indian Market in the AA-controlled town. Kyauktaw, strategically located along the Kaladan River about 77 km from the state capital Sittwe, has been under AA control since February 2024. The strikes hit civilian areas in broad daylight.

The AA reported that the 50 fatalities included pedestrians, shoppers, and market laborers. Of the 58 wounded, 22 suffered serious injuries. Prominent Rakhine writer and aid worker Wai Hun Aung noted that some bodies could not be recovered because they were incinerated. The injured included 32 women and 26 men.

The AA accused the military of deliberately targeting civilians and vowed retaliation. “We have specially documented all commanders, perpetrators and associated entities involved in this massive, war-crime-level mass-casualty aerial bombing, and we will deliver a fitting retaliation in the near future,” the group stated.

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) condemned the attack, offered condolences to victims’ families, and called for justice and an end to junta violence.

On the same day, the regime also carried out airstrikes in Minbya Township and on Ngapali Beach in Thandwe Township, injuring nine civilians. Between September 17 and 27, junta bombings across nine Rakhine townships killed six people, injured 16, and damaged or destroyed around 55 homes.

The Kyauktaw strike is described as the deadliest mass-casualty aerial bombing against civilians in Rakhine’s recent history, surpassing earlier attacks such as the December 2025 strike on Mrauk-U Hospital (at least 33 killed) and an airstrike on an AA-run prison earlier this year.

Since launching a major offensive in November 2023, the AA has seized 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships plus Paletwa in neighboring Chin State. It continues efforts to take Sittwe and Kyaukphyu while expanding operations elsewhere. The junta’s recent Operation 4926 to reclaim lost territory has met with heavy battlefield setbacks.