BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military destroyed the Mrauk-U General Hospital in western Rakhine state with an airstrike late Dec. 10 that local rescuers and aid groups say killed more than 30 patients, medical staff and civilians in a town controlled by the Arakan Army. The attack underscored how the war’s shifting front lines — and restrictions that choke food and medical deliveries — are leaving communities across Rakhine with fewer lifelines for care and survival, Dec. 17, 2025.
Accounts of the strike and its aftermath differ, but multiple independent organizations describe widespread casualties and severe damage to the facility, which had become a critical hub as fighting across Rakhine pushed many clinics and hospitals to shut their doors.
Myanmar civil war: Rakhine State’s front line shifts as civilians lose basic services
Rakhine’s conflict has intensified since late 2023, when the Arakan Army (AA) resumed major operations against Myanmar’s military and began taking ground across the coastal state. The AA’s battlefield gains have increasingly collided with the military’s reliance on air power, producing a pattern of attacks that humanitarian groups say is pushing civilians further from safety — and further from essential services.
According to an analysis by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project, the AA now controls all but three of Rakhine’s 17 townships and has consolidated control along the Bangladesh border, a shift that has heightened both the humanitarian stakes and the regional geopolitical attention on western Myanmar.
Hospital airstrike wipes out a scarce medical lifeline in Mrauk-U
Local rescue officials and regional media described the Mrauk-U General Hospital as overflowing with patients when the bombs hit. A senior rescuer told the Associated Press that a jet dropped two bombs around 9 p.m., striking the hospital complex and killing 34 people while injuring about 80 others. The rescuer said the dead included both men and women and that the blast damaged nearby vehicles.
Medical access in much of Rakhine has been severely reduced by fighting, travel restrictions and the closure of facilities, leaving residents to rely on the few centers still functioning. In a statement, Médecins Sans Frontières said the airstrike appeared to be the deadliest recorded attack on a health care facility in Myanmar since the 2021 coup and reported at least 30 civilians killed and more than 70 injured.
Myanmar’s military later acknowledged an airstrike in the area and claimed the hospital had been used as a base by armed groups — a justification disputed by the AA and rejected by humanitarian and human rights organizations.
Amnesty International called for an investigation, with its Myanmar researcher Joe Freeman saying, “Nowhere and no one is safe from the violence of the Myanmar military,” in a statement published by Amnesty International. Amnesty said the hospital bombing raised serious concerns under international humanitarian law and described the strike as part of a wider pattern of air attacks during 2025.
Aid access choked as hunger and displacement deepen across Rakhine
The destruction of a major hospital comes as aid groups warn that civilians in Rakhine — including ethnic Rakhine communities and Rohingya families caught between armed actors — face worsening hunger and limited access to medicine. The United Nations World Food Programme has warned of an “alarming” hunger crisis driven by conflict, blockades and funding cuts.
In an in-depth report, Reuters reported that aid workers shared data indicating more than 100,000 children in Rakhine were suffering from acute malnutrition, with fewer than 2% able to access treatment. The report also described how security fears and restrictions have limited the UN’s ability to move food beyond Sittwe, the junta-controlled state capital, into central and northern areas.
One Rohingya mother who fled into Bangladesh told Reuters: “My children cried all night from hunger. I boiled grass and gave it to them just to keep them quiet.” Aid workers say such accounts are increasingly common as families deplete savings, markets thin out and travel becomes more dangerous or outright impossible.
The AA has blamed the military for blocking aid flows, while the military has blamed armed groups and security risks. Humanitarian organizations, meanwhile, say civilians are paying the price as both access and funding tighten.
Political pressure rises as fighting expands and accountability demands grow
The hospital strike has intensified calls for investigations and for the protection of medical facilities. It also comes amid broader political pressure around Myanmar’s planned election later this month, which critics say cannot be credible while large parts of the country remain in open conflict and basic freedoms are restricted.
For civilians in Rakhine, aid groups warn that the immediate priority is straightforward: safe access for medical teams, supplies and food deliveries — and a halt to attacks that put hospitals, clinics and patients in the crosshairs. Without those steps, humanitarian organizations say the state’s crisis is likely to deepen regardless of which side holds the next township.
Background reading: the crisis in Rakhine has been years in the making
In 2020, Al Jazeera reported on fighting in Rakhine and Chin states alongside internet restrictions, a precursor to the isolation that now complicates aid and information access.
In 2023, Human Rights Watch documented how authorities blocked lifesaving Cyclone Mocha aid in Myanmar’s west, warning that bureaucratic barriers and travel restrictions can turn disasters into man-made catastrophes.
In 2024, The New Humanitarian examined how aid denials became deadly in Myanmar, describing the cascading effect of blocked supply routes, clinic closures and reduced emergency referrals.
