Rights activists condemn deadly junta bombing of Kyauktaw school

By Admin 15 Sep 2025

DMG Newsroom

15 September 2025, Kyauktaw

A junta airstrike on a boarding school in Thayet Ta Pin Village, part of Arakan State's Kyauktaw Township, has been condemned by civil society organisations, including the Arakan Student's Union, international organisations, and human rights activists.

A junta jet fighter dropped two 500-lb bombs on the village at around 1 a.m. on September 12, one of which exploded in front of a student dormitory near the Pyinnyar Pan Khin private school. The Arakan Army (AA) announced on Saturday that 19 students under the age of 18 were killed and 22 others injured in the regime's aerial assault.

Human rights activists in Arakan State say the junta airstrike on the school in Kyauktaw Township constitutes a war crime by Myanmar's military regime, as every armed group has a responsibility to protect children during armed conflict.

"The military regime cannot deny that it carried out the airstrikes by accident or on purpose, not knowing that there were children. If the target is not certain, it is not allowed to fire. The military regime must distinguish between the target and the enemy. This is not a war zone, and by directly targeting civilians and schools while children are sleeping, the military is committing war crimes, child rights violations, and genocide," said a human rights activist in Arakan State.

Myanmar is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its related treaties.

Human rights activists have said that the military regime committed war crimes under International Criminal Law (ICL), as well as major violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on September 12 said that it was deeply concerned about the deaths and injuries of children in the attack, and the Arakan Student's Union issued a statement on September 14 strongly condemning the military regime's inhumane airstrikes.

But human rights activists have urged more than mere words in the wake of the latest regime atrocity.

"It is not surprising that the international community, including the United Nations, has issued a single statement saying, 'We are deeply concerned. There is a need for effective sanctions and interventions to be taken against the Myanmar military regime, to put practical pressure on it, and to stop such actions," said another human rights activist.

Parents of students in Arakan State say the military regime has been bombing densely populated areas and schools in townships controlled by the Arakan Army, raising concerns about children's access to education.

The 43-year-old mother of a student from Kyauktaw said, "It's not even safe for my children to study. With the military regime dropping bombs like this, it's hard for a parent to keep their children in school with confidence. Now they have to take their children out of school. I don't know what to do next."

The woman added that schools in Arakan State were temporarily closed after the junta bombing on the boarding school in Kyauktaw Township.

According to data from the Arakan Army's Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office (HDCO), a total of 184 children under the age of 18 were killed and 474 injured in military regime attacks in Arakan State from November 2023 to August 2025, including 102 killed and 213 injured in airstrikes.

The HDCO said that 37 schools were destroyed by military regime airstrikes and 10 schools were destroyed by artillery fire, for a total of 47 schools destroyed.