BANGKOK: An airstrike by Myanmar ‘s military destroyed a hospital in an area controlled by a leading rebel armed force, killing 34 patients and medical staff, according to a local rescue worker and independent media reports on Thursday.
About 80 other people were injured in the attack Wednesday night on the general hospital in Mrauk-U township, an area controlled by the ethnic Arakan Army in the western state of Rakhine.
The ruling military has not announced news of any attack in the area.
Wai Hun Aung, a senior official for rescue services in Rakhine, told The Associated Press that a jet fighter dropped two bombs at 9:13 p.m. with one hitting the hospital’s recovery ward and the other landing near the hospital’s main building.
He said he arrived at the hospital early Thursday to provide assistance and recorded the deaths of 17 women and 17 men. He said that most of the hospital building was destroyed by the bombs, and taxis and motorbikes near the hospital were also damaged.
Rakhine-based online media posted photos and videos showing damaged buildings and debris including medical equipment.
The hospital has been the main source of health care for people in Rakhine, where most hospitals have closed because of Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, said Wai Hun Aung.
It was reopened after doctors gathered in Mrauk-U to provide much-needed medical services.
Mrauk-U, located 530 kilometers (326 miles) northwest of Yangon, the country’s largest city, was captured by the Arakan Army in February last year.
The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, which seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It began its offensive in Rakhine in November 2023 and has seized a strategically important regional army headquarters and 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships.
Rakhine, formerly known as Arakan, was the site of a brutal army counterinsurgency operation in 2017 that drove about 740,000 minority Rohingya Muslims to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh. There is still ethnic tension between the Buddhist Rakhine and the Rohingya.
Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, established by elected lawmakers who were barred from taking their seats in 2021, condemned the airstrike.
The organization urged the international community to pressure the military to end its actions, take action against perpetrators and provide humanitarian assistance as soon as possible.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army took power in 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. Many opponents of military rule have since taken up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict.
The military government has stepped up airstrikes ahead of planned Dec. 28 elections against the armed pro-democracy People’s Defense Force, which is closely associated with the National Unity Government. Opponents of military rule charge that the polls will be neither free not fair, and are mainly an effort to legitimize the army retaining power.
A nighttime airstrike on a hospital leaves 34 dead and 80 injured in Myanmar
https://arab.news/9hqdp
A nighttime airstrike on a hospital leaves 34 dead and 80 injured in Myanmar
- About 80 other people were injured in the attack Wednesday night on the general hospital in Mrauk-U township
- The hospital has been the main source of health care for people in Rakhine
Indonesia’s new state mosque to hold first Eid prayers this year
- Mosque is located in Nusantara Capital City on Borneo island, a $32bn project set for 2045 completion
- Famous sculptor Nyoman Nuarta designed mosque, other government structures in new capital
JAKARTA: The state mosque in Indonesia’s planned new capital city, Nusantara, will hold its inaugural Eid Al-Fitr prayer this year, as the $62 million facility opens for its first run of Ramadan programs.
The Indonesian government has plans to relocate the capital to Borneo island to replace the overcrowded and sinking Jakarta on Java island, with the $32 billion megaproject scheduled for completion in 2045.
With a capacity of about 60,000 people, the mosque in East Kalimantan opened to the public last month, at the beginning of Ramadan.
“This mosque symbolizes that we are building the Nusantara Capital City with careful attention to spiritual, social and environmental aspects,” Troy Pantouw, spokesperson for the Nusantara Capital City Authority — the agency overseeing the new capital city — told Arab News on Saturday.
“We will hold Eid Al-Fitr prayers here and we are hoping that it would mark a historic momentum of unity here at Nusantara Capital City.”
Locally known as Masjid Negara, construction of the state mosque began in 2024. Its design was spearheaded by Balinese sculptor Nyoman Nuarta at the request of former President Joko Widodo.
Nuarta is one of Indonesia’s most famous visual artists and creator of the country’s tallest statue, Garuda Wisnu Kencana, located in Bali.
The 72-year-old is also the designer behind other main structures in Nusantara, including the new state palace.
This Ramadan marked many firsts for Masjid Negara, including its first taraweeh on Feb. 18, which was attended by thousands of worshippers in East Kalimantan.
In the same complex where the state mosque is located, the government has plans to build Christian churches, and Buddhist, Hindu and Confucian temples.
Indonesia, home to the world’s largest population of Muslims, officially recognizes Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism as religions.
“A church is now being built in the complex, and in the future there will also be houses of worship belonging to other religions. This reflects Nusantara’s values of harmony and respect,” Pantouw said.
“From the start, this area was designed to represent inter-religious harmony. We want the Nusantara Capital City to stand as a concrete example of how physical developments can be parallel to efforts to build tolerance in society.”
