More than 100 prisoners of war (POWs), including high-ranking military officers, have been killed after the Myanmar military launched a sustained three-hour aerial bombardment on a detention camp run by the Arakan Army (AA).
The incident occurred in Ann Township, Rakhine State, on 8 March. According to a statement released by the AA on Monday, the military utilized four jet fighters and four Y-12 transport planes to conduct waves of strikes lasting from late morning until mid-afternoon.
The AA confirmed that 116 people were killed in the attack, the majority of whom were junta personnel captured during recent fighting. Another 32 individuals were injured. The casualties reportedly include several high-ranking military officers and a number of civilians who were serving sentences at the facility. The scale of the attack on a facility holding its own personnel has shocked observers.
“While we don’t have direct communications from the site, sources close to the area suggest the strikes were a deliberate attempt to eliminate their own men after a perceived security leak,” an elder from the Rakhine community in Yangon told the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency (MPA).
A military officer who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) described the act as a brutal betrayal. “These POWs didn’t just surrender; they were captured in the heat of battle. To target them so vengefully without mercy is a testament to the junta’s desperation,” he said.
The AA stated that many of the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition, with some remains completely missing due to the intensity of the blasts. A full forensic verification is currently underway, and further details are expected once the process is complete.
The AA has captured thousands of junta troops, including several brigadier generals, during its sweeping “Operation 1027” and subsequent offensives that have seen the ethnic armed group seize control of a majority of townships across Rakhine State.
This incident marks the deadliest instance of “friendly fire” or internal liquidation by the Myanmar military’s air force since the civil war intensified following the 2021 coup. The military council has not yet issued a statement regarding the strike.
