NEW YORK: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday called for an investigation into an air strike on a hospital in Myanmar that killed at least 30 people, including patients. Volker Turk said such attacks may amount to a war crime.
More than 70 people were also injured in the attack which had been blamed on the country's ruling junta. The hospital is located in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, which is largely controlled by the rebel Arakan Army.
The hospital in Rakhine’s Mrauk U township was struck late on Wednesday by bombs dropped by a military aircraft, said Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the Arakan Army, which is battling the ruling junta along parts of the coastal state.
“The Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed,” Khine Thu Kha told Reuters. “The high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit.”
A junta spokesman did not respond to calls for comment.
