DMG interview: Airstrike brings healthcare services at Ponnagyun clinic to a complete halt

By Admin 16 Oct 2026

On October 5, an aerial bombardment targeted Saytana Clinic, a facility providing free healthcare services to internally displaced persons (IDPs) near Pannilar Village in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State.

The junta attack killed Ma Khine Thazin Soe, an 18-year-old volunteer and Grade 12 student who was struck in the head. The clinic's buildings and medical supplies were completely destroyed.

The junta airstrike brought all healthcare services for displaced communities to a halt, depriving local residents of access to medical care.

DMG spoke with Ko R Gyi, founder of Saytana Clinic, about the aftermath of the bombing, the challenges facing healthcare services for IDPs, and the prospects for resuming operations.

DMG: Could you describe what happened during the airstrike on the clinic?

Ko R Gyi: At around 9:30 a.m. on October 5, the military junta carried out an airstrike on our Saytana Clinic. During the attack, Ma Khine Thazin Soe, a Grade 12 student whose education was supported by local and international donations and who also served as a volunteer, suffered severe head injuries from shrapnel. We immediately rushed to provide emergency treatment, but she succumbed to her injuries later that day.

DMG: What was the extent of the destruction and loss caused by the junta bombing?

Ko R Gyi: The clinic's facilities and medical equipment, built with funding from domestic and international donors to provide healthcare to IDPs caught up in military and political conflict, were completely destroyed. When the military regime launched its airstrike, we lost the buildings, essential medical supplies and the operational capacity that allowed our young volunteers to serve the community immediately. We also lost an innocent Grade 12 student from an underprivileged family to a bomb dropped by a fighter jet.

All the funds donated through public goodwill were wiped out, resulting in losses amounting to hundreds of millions of kyats. Our ability to provide community services has been completely cut off, and all prospects for future services have been shattered. Operations at a clinic built through the generosity of donors and dedicated primarily to treating displaced civilians have come to a complete halt.

DMG: What would you like to say about airstrikes targeting hospitals, clinics, IDPs and civilians in Arakan State?

Ko R Gyi: Regarding the military junta’s deliberate bombing of places where civilians seek refuge from political and military conflict, such as schools, hospitals, clinics and religious buildings, I must say this: what was once referred to as the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of a country, has transformed into a force carrying out mass slaughter. It can only be described as a killer army that actively slaughters the people of Myanmar.

DMG: Displacement camps in Ponnagyun Township have suffered repeated bombings. What is the current situation for IDPs in the area?

Ko R Gyi: Across the country, civilians and displaced people caught in conflict zones are losing everything because of the military junta’s airstrikes, including their temporary homes, livelihoods, children's right to education and basic access to healthcare. Their fundamental human rights are being completely violated.

People are forced to live in constant fear. Because of the junta's airstrikes, civilians never feel safe. They live in constant anticipation of when the next bomb will fall. People across Myanmar are living under this terror. Displaced civilians struggling to survive amid conflict face the daily fear of when this killer army will strike next.

When the military junta drops bombs from the air on civilian targets unrelated to military operations, people are forced to flee repeatedly. Even as they struggle to feed their families while displaced, they must run for their lives. As I said, people live in constant fear of when the next strike will occur.

DMG: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Ko R Gyi: Instead of using air power to attack civilian targets unrelated to military operations, IDP camps, schools, hospitals and clinics, go and fight where active combat is taking place if you believe you can win. Civilians have no weapons to fight you. If you consider yourselves a national army representing Myanmar, try to maintain control on the actual battlefields.

I say this because an army that claims to represent all of Myanmar yet drops aerial bombs on civilian areas across the country is a disgrace. I urge them to fight only where actual battles are taking place.

DMG: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.