Myanmar military bombing kills at least 50 in northern Rakhine state

At least 50 people were killed after the Burmese military carried out an airstrike a day earlier in Kyauktaw township in northern Rakhine state of Myanmar, a media report said Tuesday.

The Burmese military on Monday attacked a bridge and a market in Kyauktaw township in northern Rakhine, currently controlled by an opposition group, The Irrawaddy reported.

Some 58 others were wounded, it added.

A military jet hit the Kissapanadi, or Kaladan, Bridge and a crowded marketplace known as the "Indian Market," where pedestrians, shoppers and laborers were among the casualties.

This week's attack on the coastal town of Kyauktaw, which lies along the banks of the Kaladan River, is one of the deadliest since Burmese junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was elected president in April this year.

Myanmar has seen a protracted civil war for years, which intensified after Min ousted an elected government in February 2021.

Several ethnic opposition groups are fighting Min's government in several parts of the country.

Rakhine is home largely to the Rohingya community, a predominantly Muslim group that has faced persecution by the Burmese junta as well as other opposition groups. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been forced out of the Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation over the years.