AA detention camp in Maungdaw bombed by junta, over 30 bombs dropped, 4 including a captain killed

MAUNGDAW – The Myanmar military junta has heavily bombed a detention camp for prisoners of war located near Kin Chaung village in northern Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State, from the air, killing a total of four people, including a captain from the junta forces, according to local sources. Yesterday (July 2), around 3 p.m., the junta forces targeted the prison camp in Kin Chaung, carrying out bombing attacks using jet fighters and civilian aircraft. "Yesterday evening, after hearing the sound of airplanes, bombs started falling continuously. The ground itself shook. They deliberately and intentionally came and bombed the detention camp, knowing it was a camp where their own soldiers were held captive. The sounds were quite terrifying," a local man from Maungdaw told Mizzima. It is known that from 3 p.m. to 3:13 p.m., the junta forces attacked six times with two jet fighters, dropping six 500-pound bombs. Then, from 3:17 p.m. to 3:32 p.m., one Y-12 aircraft circled five times and dropped an additional 27 bombs, resulting in a fierce attack with a total of 33 bombs within minutes. Due to this intense aerial bombardment, four individuals from the junta forces, including a captain responsible for treating the prisoners within the camp, were hit by bomb fragments and died on the spot. In addition to the fatalities, it is known that some of the prison buildings where the prisoners were held were also collapsed and damaged by the bombing. Mizzima has contacted and inquired with U Khine Thu Kha, the spokesperson for the Arakan Army (AA), regarding this incident, but has not yet received a response. On September 9, 2024, the junta forces also carried out aerial bombing attacks on the Four-Mile (No. 2 Infantry Battalion) camp in Maungdaw Township, resulting in the deaths of over 50 people, including prisoners of war and civilian inmates, and injuring over 80, according to an AA statement. While fighting intensifies in Rakhine State, the junta forces are increasingly relying on airstrikes as they are unable to provide ground reinforcements. The targeting of prisoner of war camps in this manner is also an unusual development.