International condemnation mounts as death toll in Rakhine State reaches 50

Members of the United League of Arakan bury the bodies of 22 people killed during airstrikes in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, on Sept. 29. (Credit: One Nation News)

The remains of 22 people killed during airstrikes carried out by the Myanmar Air Force in Kyauktaw Township on Sept. 28 were buried at an undisclosed location in Arakan State by the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA), on Tuesday. 

Wai Hun Aung, a humanitarian aid worker in Kyauktaw, stated that the death toll from the airstrikes reached 50 as one man succumbed to his wounds while receiving treatment at a hospital in Kyauktaw on Sept. 29. Out of the 58 injured, 21 are in critical condition, he added.

“I am appalled by the reports of a military airstrike on a market in Kyauktaw, Rakhine, which has resulted in a significant loss of life. Attacks on civilians are utterly unacceptable, and the UK condemns this devastating attack,” stated Rosie Winterton, the U.K. Parliamentary Undersecretary of State, in a press release on Sept. 29.

Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that the airstrikes in Arakan raised “serious concerns” about the Myanmar military’s respect for international humanitarian law.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns these attacks and calls on all parties to end violence immediately to protect civilians and comply with their obligations under international law,” Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told a press briefing at the U.N. Headquarters in New York on Sept. 29.