The Myanmar military launched an air attack on a displaced persons camp in Rakhine State, resulting in at least 12 deaths and dozens of injuries.
Foreign news agencies reported on 14 Nov 2026 GMT+7, citing eyewitnesses and several rescue officials, that the Myanmar military conducted an airstrike on a camp sheltering displaced persons from the civil war in Rakhine State, in the country's far west, killing 12 people.
The attack occurred on the evening of Friday, 13 Nov, at the Byar La displaced persons camp in Ponnagyun, northeast of Sittwe, the state capital. Ms. Jit Su Wai, a 27-year-old vendor, wept as she recounted how her daughter, aunt, and mother died in the attack.
“All I saw were their bodies scattered tragically. I have no words to describe it. We could only cry over our loss,” she said. “This incident shattered our family completely. There was no one else but my family. We didn’t even hear the fighter jets; they just came and dropped bombs.”
Myanmar has been engulfed in civil war since the military coup five years ago, which triggered resistance from pro-democracy activists who took up arms, along with various ethnic armed groups long influential in the country's border areas.
Rakhine State, located on the western coast, is one of the hardest-hit areas. Almost the entire region is under control of the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group, leading to ongoing sieges and repeated airstrikes by the Myanmar military.
Ms. Jit Su Wai said the Friday attack resulted in 12 deaths before Khine Hein Htet, chairman of the Phyusin Yin Khwin Foundation, an emergency rescue and disaster relief agency, confirmed the same figures.
Khine Hein Htet revealed that among the dead was a 5-year-old child and that 18 others were injured. “They believed this camp was safe, so they gathered here. When we arrived, most of the deceased were found in the same area.”
He confirmed the area was not a combat zone and added, “We never thought this camp would become a target.”
Meanwhile, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) estimates the civil war in Myanmar has claimed more than 100,000 lives from all sides since the conflict began.
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Source:cna