The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for the immediate cessation of violence against children in Myanmar, following reports about a deadly military airstrike hitting private boarding schools in western Rakhine state.
Bloody chaos has engulfed Myanmar since its armed forces, Tamadaw, seized power from the elected democratic government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in February, 2021.
Four years into the conflict, a multi-sided civil war now persists, with various ethnic armed organisations fighting against military forces for autonomy in their respective regions and states.
Armed clashes
In Rakhine, the Arakan Army (AA) claims to have seized swaths of territory from the Tatmadaw regime in the past year, as fierce armed clashes continue, with civilians, including children, caught in the middle – and more often than not – the usual victims of unprecedented military airstrikes.
On Friday, the AA and local news outlets reported about an overnight aerial assault from the military in Rakhine, which they said hit the compounds of Pyinnyar Pan Khinn and A Myin Thit Private High School in Thayet Thapin village, Kyauktaw township, killing and injuring students as they slept.
According to the AA, the attack happened just after midnight Friday, leaving at least 19 students between the ages of 15 and 21 dead, and 22 more wounded.
Myanmar Now newspaper said a military warplane dropped two 500-pound bombs at the time of the incident.
“We feel as sad as the victims’ families for the death of the innocent students,” says the AA in a statement on Telegram, blaming the military for the strike.
Meanwhile, the Tatmadaw government in Nay Pyi Taw has yet to release a statement confirming or denying its involvement in the reported attack.
READ MORE: Malaysia gears up for driverless future with legal framework for AVs
A pattern of violence
As the news made rounds outside Myanmar, UNICEF denounced the incident as an addition “to a pattern of increasingly devastating violence in Rakhine (state), with children and families paying the ultimate price”.
“Relentless attacks are sowing terror, uprooting families and deepening their suffering. Children are losing their lives in the very spaces meant to protect them – their homes, schools and neighbourhoods,” reads a UNICEF statement.
“Violence against children must stop,” the agency stressed. “Schools, dormitories, homes and the essential services that children rely on must remain safe at all times.”
It then called on all parties involved in the conflict to “uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians, including children, safeguard civilian infrastructure and allow lifesaving humanitarian assistance to reach those in urgent need”.
The reported overnight attack on Kyauktaw schools came at the height of mass displacement across Rakhine, sparked by the ongoing fighting, with local communities facing acute hardship, dwindling food supplies and deteriorating education and healthcare capacity.
It is one of the most deadly school bombings reported in Myanmar since the military takeover in 2021.
In May this year, an airstrike carried out by the Tatmadaw reportedly hit a school in the village of Oe Htein Kwin, located in Depayin township of north-western Sagaing region, resulting in the deaths of up to 22 individuals, including 20 students and two teachers, and injured dozens more.
MORE FROM JACINTH BANITE: Four-year search for fugitive NZ father, kids leads to fatal shootout
Shameeka Voyiya 
Lucia Caporalini 
Kamille Q. Cabreza