MYANMAR – Myanmar junta on Wednesday bombed Mrauk-U General Hospital in Rakhine state, killing at least 33, according to local reports on Thursday.

The attack, which occurred on International Human Rights Day, injured 76 people, including 27 in critical condition.

Among the dead are 17 women and 16 men.

Residents said a junta jet dropped two 500-lb (226 kilograms) bombs on a public hospital in Mrauk-U township.

The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), former lawmakers representing the last elected Burmese parliament, condemned the attack and said its timing “only serves to further highlight the long-standing crimes committed by the military coup.”

“We strongly condemn the inhumane actions of the murderous military junta that is trying to gain legitimacy through a sham election. This action only serves to further highlight the long-standing crimes committed by the military coup,” the group wrote on US social media company X.

Ethnic clashes have intensified Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis as the country remains engulfed in civil conflict nearly four years after the February 2021 military coup.

The 2021 military takeover ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy, and plunged the country into more than four years of emergency rule.

In July, the military announced a nominal transfer of power to a civilian-led interim administration ahead of planned elections in December and January, although the junta chief remains the acting president.