Airstrikes on a school kill children in Myanmar, UN says

An airstrike on a school in Myanmar, also known as Burma, killed at least three children and injured five others last Saturday, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF. The school was reportedly serving displaced children and families in Loikaw township in eastern Myanmar, near the country’s border with Thailand. UNICEF urged all fighting groups in the country, which has been engaged in a civil war since a 2001 military coup, to take measures to protect children. The organization said it was deeply alarmed by reports of the weekend airstrike but did not say who may have carried it out.

The strike occurred in an area mostly controlled by the Karen National Union, an ethnic armed group at war with Myanmar’s military government. Many of the Karen people have been displaced and live in camps in Thailand. The Karenni Human Rights Group attributed the strike to the government, saying its forces dropped over 20 bombs from two aircraft. There was no active conflict in the area of the school, the group claimed. The group also identified the children who died as a boy in third grade, a girl in fifth grade, and a girl in seventh grade.

UNICEF also said it learned of other airstrikes over the weekend in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, including one that hit a temporary healthcare facility. That strike reportedly killed a newborn baby and several healthcare workers, according to UNICEF. The organization was working to assess needs in the affected areas and provide help, it said.

The rebel Arakan Army controls much of Rakhine state and has been gaining territory. Overall, the weekend airstrikes there killed at least 12 people and wounded 32, according to Reuters.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on a pastor’s death at the hands of Myanmar’s military government.