At least 19 high school students were killed and 22 others injured in an air strike in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, the ethnic armed group Arakan Army (AA) said on Saturday, reported news agency AFP.

The strike took place around midnight on Friday in Kyauktaw township, where heavy fighting has been ongoing between the AA and Myanmar’s military.

According to the AA’s statement, the air strike hit two private high schools, killing students aged between 15 and 21, and the group blamed the country’s ruling military junta for the attack.

“We feel as sad as the victims’ families for the death of the innocent students,” the AA said in its statement, as quoted by the agency.

The military junta has not issued any response, but local outlet Myanmar Now reported that a junta warplane dropped two 500-pound bombs on the school while students were asleep.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF condemned the attack, describing it as a "brutal attack" and part of a worsening pattern of violence in the region.

“This adds to a pattern of increasingly devastating violence in Rakhine State, with children and families paying the ultimate price,” UNICEF said in a statement.

This air strike is the latest in a series of military operations in Rakhine, where the AA has captured significant territory over the past year. Myanmar has been in political and armed turmoil since the 2021 military coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government and triggered nationwide armed resistance.

Communication with the affected area remains limited due to poor internet and phone access, and the military has repeatedly been accused of using air and artillery strikes against civilian populations in conflict zones across the country.