Two captured Myanmar junta soldiers claim their commanders ordered them to massacre ethnic Rakhine civilians and pillage villages during recent clashes with the Arakan Army (AA) in western Myanmar.

In interviews the AA conducted and released, the prisoners were identified as Private Aung Pyae Sone and Private Michael. Both served in Light Infantry Battalion 252, operating under the military’s 101st Light Infantry Division.

"The order was aimed at completely wiping out Rakhine State," Private Michael said. "If we encountered Rakhine people, we were told to spare no one—no men, women, or children."

AA forces captured the soldiers, along with two others, on September 16 following intense clashes along the highway connecting the state capital, Sittwe, and Ponnagyun township.

Michael said AA troops captured him near a bridge in Amyint Kyun village after his officers abandoned their posts. "Our superiors retreated one by one without telling us," he explained. "Left behind, I was eventually captured."

Private Aung Pyae Sone corroborated the account, stating that senior officers explicitly ordered front-line troops to shoot residents on sight, loot property, and hold their positions indefinitely.

"The instruction was to kill any Rakhine people we saw, whether children or adults," Aung Pyae Sone said. "We were ordered to seize livestock like cows and chickens, loot everything, and shoot local residents dead. We were ordered not to back down under any circumstances... but the situation behind us was chaotic."