The United Nations has expressed alarm over reports that a Myanmar military airstrike on a market in Kyauktaw, Rakhine state, killed 50 people and wounded at least 58 others near the Bangladesh border.

Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attack, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on September 29. Women and children were among the dead, according to initial reports.

It is the deadliest such strike since a December bombing of a hospital killed 30 people. The UN said it was seeking further verification of the toll.

Arakan Army spokesperson Khine Thu Kha accused the military of deliberately targeting markets, schools and residential areas. Aid worker Wai Hun Aung confirmed the casualty numbers, according to Reuters.

The strike comes as Myanmar's military junta intensifies operations against armed groups in Rakhine, driving civilians toward the Bangladesh border.

The UN also urged Malaysia not to deport around 5,000 Myanmar nationals, warning they could face persecution on return.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 military coup, with fighting between the junta and ethnic armed groups displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians.