A Myanmar military airstrike on a camp housing displaced people in Rakhine state killed 12 individuals on Friday evening. Witnesses and rescue workers confirmed the toll on Saturday.
The raid struck the Byar La IDP camp in Ponnagyun township, northeast of the state capital Sittwe. Chit Su Wai, a 27-year-old shopkeeper, lost her daughter, aunt and mother in the bombing.
"All I saw was their bodies scattered in pain. I could not find words to describe it. And we were lost with crying," she said. The attack destroyed her family entirely. She said the aircraft dropped the bombs without warning or the sound of an approaching fighter jet.
Khine Hein Htet, chairman of the Phyusin Yin Khwin Foundation rescue service, confirmed the death toll of 12. A five-year-old child was among the fatalities, and 18 other people sustained injuries at the camp.
"They believed the camp was safe, and they sheltered there together," the 24-year-old rescue official said. The site was not a combat area, and responders never anticipated the camp would become a military target.
By Saturday, the site featured collapsed bamboo houses and the wreckage of an upturned vehicle mixed with household goods and clothing. Local residents cleared the bodies, wrapped them in yellow and red plastic, and buried them in makeshift graves.
Aung Kyaw Min, a 45-year-old tuktuk driver, rushed to the settlement after the attack to find his siblings. "My sister’s body was already headless while my brother was lying dead," he said. He learned the following day that his mother had also died, while other relatives including a 10-year-old remained missing.
"Now all of them, my sister, brother, including my mother, were all killed. My niece and nephews are still missing, I don’t know where to find them," he said.
Myanmar has suffered through a civil war since the military staged a coup five years ago. The takeover triggered armed resistance from democracy activists and ethnic minority factions. The coastal state of Rakhine is heavily impacted by the conflict. It is controlled largely by the ethnic minority Arakan Army while facing military blockades and regular airstrikes.
The Myanmar military could not be reached for comment regarding the attack on the camp, where many residents had lived for four years. The conflict monitoring group ACLED estimates that more than 100,000 people have died on all sides since the civil war began.
