Myanmar resistance drone strike forces Mandalay airport shutdown

Myanmar's resistance fighters launched drone attacks on a military air base inside Tada-U International Airport near Mandalay, prompting the airport's closure. The strike underscored the growing use of drones in the conflict and exposed military vulnerability at a heavily guarded site.

In Short

• PDF fighters said drones targeted warplanes used for strikes on civilians
• Twelve resistance units joined the operation, according to the shadow government
• State media claimed security forces intercepted drones and prevented serious damage

Myanmar’s main pro-democracy resistance group said on Friday that its armed wing had carried out drone attacks on a military air base inside the compound of Tada-U International Airport near Mandalay, forcing the airport to shut down. The airport, which serves Myanmar’s second-largest city, remained closed on Friday.

The attack is the latest in Myanmar’s more than five-year conflict between the military and armed resistance groups that emerged after the army seized power in February 2021 and removed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover had sparked peaceful protests across the country, but many local armed groups were later formed after security forces cracked down with lethal force.

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, told The Associated Press that the People’s Defence Force, or PDF, used drones to strike the military air base within the airport compound. The PDF is the armed wing of the NUG, which considers itself Myanmar’s legitimate administrative body. Nay Phone Latt said, ‘We only attacked the section of the site where the military aircraft conducting airstrikes against civilians were stationed. We did not attack the civilian airfield site at all.’

In a statement posted on Facebook on Friday, the PDF said 12 of its units took part in the operation. It described the air base as a key air force headquarters from where airstrikes against civilians are carried out. The group said five military personnel, including a colonel, were killed in the attack, along with three resistance fighters. These claims could not be independently verified.

The airport compound, which includes both the military air base and the civilian airport, is about 30 kilometres southwest of Mandalay. Videos posted by Myanmar online media appeared to show one drone flying directly towards one of two fighter jets parked inside a hangar. The footage cut out as the drone reached the aircraft, making it unclear whether it hit the jet, the netting around it or exploded. Another video appeared to show people gathered near the hangar running away as a drone approached.

There was no immediate evidence of damage from the attack, but the military acknowledged that drones had reached one of the country’s most heavily guarded sites. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Friday that six drones launched by the PDF attacked the airport and nearby areas on Thursday afternoon, and that security forces intercepted the drones and disabled the explosives they were carrying. It said the attack briefly disrupted some domestic flights but caused no injuries or damage to vehicles or the airport runways.

Myanmar Airways International said on Facebook on Thursday night that it was suspending all international flights to and from the airport for operational reasons. Two people who run businesses at the airport told AP on Friday that the facility had been shut for two days after the attack. They said they saw no damage to the civilian airport and that operations were expected to resume on Sunday. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they feared arrest by the military.

Drones have become a key weapon for resistance forces, which are outnumbered and outgunned by Myanmar’s military. The attack on the Mandalay airport compound underlined both the continuing conflict and the disruption it is causing, even as the resistance group said its target was the military base rather than the civilian airport.

With PTI Inputs

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