DMG Editorial: The Military Junta Is Openly Killing Its Own Soldiers in a Revolting Act

By Admin 12 Mar 2026

The military junta’s brutal aerial bombing of a prisoner-of-war detention camp in the Darlatchaung area of Ann Township on March 8, 2026, stands as one of the most disturbing incidents demonstrating the complete collapse of ethical standards on the Arakan war front.

According to a statement released by the Arakan Army (AA), the attack involved continuous bombing for more than three hours, killing 116 prisoners of war and civilians and injuring more than 30 others.

This incident is significant not only because of the large number of deaths but also because it reveals that the military junta has reached the stage of systematically eliminating its own former soldiers.

“This kind of action is nothing less than a betrayal against us. I see it as killing one’s own comrades. To be honest, I feel deeply hurt,” said Sergeant Major Thein Lwin, who served in the Myanmar military for 34 years and personally survived the bombing carried out by his own air force.

His testimony stands as one of the clearest pieces of evidence exposing the junta’s betrayal of its own soldiers.

Evidence from the past two years also shows that this attack was not an accident. Records indicate that the military junta has repeatedly targeted locations where prisoners of war were being held.

Since 2024, airstrikes have been carried out on detention sites holding prisoners of war in Maungdaw, Pauktaw, Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw townships, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The Darlatchaung incident in Ann Township now stands as the deadliest example of this systematic pattern of attacks.

Under international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, prisoners who have surrendered and are in detention are no longer legitimate military targets. Yet the junta suffering military defeats on the ground has increasingly resorted to bombing hospitals, schools, and now even detention camps holding its own former soldiers in areas controlled by the Arakan Army.

The emotional testimony of Daw Thida Soe, the wife of Second Lieutenant Zaw Tin Moe who remains missing after the attack, further exposes the cruelty of the junta. Her husband had been captured while serving in the Western Regional Command area. Now, after being bombed by his own military, his body cannot even be recovered.

This tragedy serves as a terrifying warning not only to civilians but also to military families themselves.

The attack on the Darlatchaung detention camp also sends a message to soldiers still fighting on the front lines.

The act of killing one’s own soldiers destroys the fundamental norms of warfare and demonstrates that the junta has reduced its own troops to something even worse than expendable tools.

The lives lost including patients at Mrauk-U Hospital, villagers in Yoe Ngu Village, and now 116 prisoners in Ann stand as undeniable evidence of the junta’s brutality.

If the international community continues to treat this collapse of humanitarian norms merely as “internal instability,” then neither the people of Arakan nor prisoners of war will ever receive protection from aerial attacks.

A military that betrays and kills its own soldiers has shown the world that it is willing to sacrifice anyone not to protect the country, but to preserve its own power.