AFP/ Dhaka Tribune, March 19, 202
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said he is
"alarmed" by reports of ongoing Myanmar military air strikes on
villages in Rakhine state, where locals told AFP more than 20 people were
killed on Monday.
Clashes have rocked Myanmar's western Rakhine state since
the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November, ending a ceasefire
that had largely held since the military's 2021 coup.
Guterres is "alarmed by reports of ongoing air strikes
by the military, including today (Monday) in Minbya township that reportedly
killed and injured many civilians," a spokesman for the UN chief said
Monday.
Minbya township lies east of the state capital Sittwe, which
has been all but cut off by AA fighters in recent weeks.
The air strike hit the village of Thar Dar around 1:45am on
Monday, killing 10 men, four women and 10 children, one resident told AFP.
"There was no fighting in our village and they bombed
us," he said, asking for anonymity for security reasons.
Another resident, also asking for anonymity, said 23 people
had been killed in the blast and 18 wounded.
The recent conflict has displaced tens of thousands in
Rakhine, where a 2017 military crackdown sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya
fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh.
With most mobile networks down communication with the
riverine region is extremely difficult.
Junta troops hold Sittwe but in recent weeks AA fighters
have made gains in surrounding districts.
Fighting has also spilled over into neighbouring India and
Bangladesh.
Last month, at least two people were killed in Bangladesh
after mortar shells fired from Myanmar during clashes there landed across the
border.
The AA is one of several armed ethnic minority groups in
Myanmar's border regions, many of whom have battled the military since
independence from Britain in 1948 over autonomy and control of lucrative
resources.