Myanmar junta targets its own personnel in airstrikes on AA prisoner of war camp in Ann Township, 116 killed

Mizzima

The Arakan Army (AA) reported that 116 prisoners of war, including high-ranking military officers and some civilians, were killed on 8 March during a massive, three-and-a-half-hour aerial bombardment by junta jet fighters and transport planes targeting a detention facility in the Daletchaung region.

The airstrike, which lasted for three and a half hours, resulted in the highest single-day death toll to date of junta personnel held as prisoners of war by revolutionary forces. Several high-ranking military officers were reportedly killed on the spot. Dozens more junta prisoners were injured or missing.

The AA stated that some civilians who were serving sentences were among those killed and injured in the airstrikes.

The Arakan Army added that some bodies of the deceased POWs are difficult to identify, while others remain missing with no remains found. There are also numerous individuals who sustained severe, moderate, and minor injuries.

The strike has drawn comparisons to recent indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure like the February massacre at a market in Ponnagyun Township.

Previously, on 24 February, a junta jet fighter carried out a violent bombing raid on a market in Yoengu village, Ponnagyun Township, which resulted in 17 deaths and numerous injuries.