RAKHINE STATE – The military junta has dropped 500-pound bombs on some bases of Arakan Army (AA) and POW (Prisoners of War) sites in the Yan Chaung area of Mrauk-U Township, Rakhine State, a military source said.
The military junta dropped 500-pound bombs three times, at around 9 p.m., on January 18, killing more than 30, including prisoners of war and their families, the source said.
“The dead include POWs, police forces, junta soldiers and their families, including children. More than 30 in total. The seriously injured have been taken to hospitals. Blood is urgently needed,” the military source said.
The military source continued that the dead included more than 30 of the junta’s police forces, junta soldiers and their families. The junta army bombarded some bases of the Arakan Army, and there were casualties of AA forces. But it has not yet been independently confirmed.
Colonel Daung Ram, a top leader of the Arakan Army (AA), also wrote on his social media page on January 19 that prisoners of war, including their family members and children, had been killed in the junta’s aerial bombings.
In April 2024, the military junta bombed these areas once, killing and wounding some AA soldiers, including prisoners of war. In addition, in September 2024, more than 50 people were killed in the aerial bombing on POW sites and Pauktaw Hospital in Pauktaw Township.
