Dhaka, Dec. 11 -- A Myanmar military air strike on a hospital in western Rakhine state killed at least 31 people, an on-site aid worker said Thursday, as the junta intensifies its offensive ahead of elections scheduled for this month.

The military has escalated air strikes since seizing power in a 2021 coup that ended a decade of democratic governance, conflict monitors report. Polls are set to begin on December 28, which the junta presents as a path to peace, but rebel groups have vowed to prevent voting in areas under their control.

Wai Hun Aung, an aid worker at Mrauk-U General Hospital near the Bangladesh border, said the situation was "terrible," with 31 confirmed dead and 68 injured, and casualties likely to rise. At least 20 shro...