5 POWs Camps in Arakan Bombed by Military Commission Within 3 Years, 226 POWs Dead

During the period of town-conquering battles in Arakan State, the Military Commission launched aerial bombings on 5 locations where prisoners of war (POWs) captured and detained by the Arakan Army (AA) along with their family members were being held. A total of 226 people died, and 97 were seriously injured.

Over a 3-year period, from September 2024 to March 2026, the Military Commission carried out bombings using aircraft and drones on 5 sites where POWs were being held.

Due to the bombing attacks by the Military Commission's air force, a total of 226 POWs—including both those who had defected to the AA and those captured and detained—died, and 97 were injured.

On September 8, 2024, a prisoner camp housing POWs and their families in Shin Ywar Village, Pauk Taw Township, was bombed by the Military Commission using a jet fighter, killing 17 POWs and injuring 10.

Similarly, on September 9, during the period of the Maungdaw town conquest battle, a prison camp at the No. (2) Military Police Battalion (Na Kha Kha (2)) located at the 4-mile mark, where POWs captured at that time were being held, was bombed. 50 POWs died, and many were injured.

On January 18, 2025, a location in Ram Chaung area, Mrauk U Township, where POW families were staying, was bombed from the air. 28 people, including children and female POWs, died, and 25 were injured.

On January 20, 2026, a camp housing POWs and their families near Chaung Tu (a) Saung Done village on the border of Kyauktaw Township and Ponnagyun Township was bombed. 21 POW family members, including children, died, and over 30 were injured.

In the current year, this month, on March 8, 2026, a prison camp in Dar Let Chaung area, Ann Township, was bombed by the Military Commission using 4 jet fighters and 4 Y-12 aircraft for 3 and a half hours. 116 POWs died, and 32 were injured.

Regarding the incidents of mass killing of POWs, a political analyst stated: "For the Military Commission to bomb their own POWs and their family members from the air like this is an extremely inhumane act. These troops had sacrificed their lives and livelihoods for them, yet showing no mercy and annihilating them demonstrates a complete lack of humanity. Massacring one's own subordinate soldiers under one's command is an irrational act and also appears to be a way of silencing witnesses to cover up the realities on the battlefield. They discard people when useful one moment and when not useful the next. They also completely disregard the provisions of the internationally established Geneva Convention. Especially the incident in Ann Township is a heartbreaking crime against humanity."

Currently, the Military Commission's use of airstrikes to attack camps holding POWs is being carried out more intensely than before.

After losing extensive territory in Arakan State, the Military Commission, instead of fighting on the battlefield, is increasingly using air power to bomb and kill civilians in their residences and POWs in their camps.