SAC Airstrike on Kyauktaw Private Boarding Schools, Rakhine State — 19 High School Students Killed, 20+ Injured

Myanmar junta air forces launched a massive airstrike campaign against Kyauktaw and Minbya townships in Rakhine State on May 7, 2026, killing at least 19 high school students and injuring more than 20 others when two private boarding schools — Pyinnyar Pan Khinn High School and A Myin Thit High School — were struck in Kyauktaw town, according to Narinjara and the Global Arakan Network. In Minbya Township at approximately 14:00 local time, the military used two Y-12 transport aircraft and six jet fighters to bombard mountain ranges near Kyauk Khoke and Thit Poke Taung villages over a 90-minute period. The Kyauktaw township was then struck again that night at around 22:00 with another wave of Y-12s and jet fighters lasting nearly an hour. The strikes killed at least 19 high school students and wounded 20+ at the two boarding schools — the highest single-incident student death toll from an SAC airstrike documented in Rakhine State in 2026. Kyauktaw is in Arakan Army (AA)-controlled territory, as the AA controls approximately 90% of Rakhine State. The strikes on civilian boarding schools with no military significance represent a continuation of the SAC's documented strategy of attacking civilian infrastructure in AA-administered territory — areas the junta can no longer hold on the ground but continues to bomb from the air, as seen in the April 19 Mrauk-U/Ponnagyun strikes (13 injured) and April 23 Ngapali beach resort bombing. The use of Y-12 aircraft (Chinese-made turboprop transports converted for bombing) alongside fighters indicates a multi-platform saturation campaign across the Rakhine interior.