Burmese security services yesterday shot down seven drones over the capital, Naypyidaw, the junta said, in what appeared to be a rare attack on its center of power.
The military’s ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in 2021 sparked renewed fighting with ethnic minority armed groups, as well as with People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) in areas previously untouched by decades of conflict in Myanmar.
The National Unity Government, dominated by lawmakers ousted in the coup who are now working to topple the junta, said it had carried out the attack with the PDF.
Photo: Reuters
Four drones approaching Naypyidaw airport and three drones approaching Zayarthiri township in the capital “were successfully shot down and destroyed,” the junta’s information team said in a statement.
There was no damage or casualties, it said.
Naypyidaw’s airport was temporarily closed after the incident at about 10am, said a source at the airport, who asked for anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The source said that there were no casualties, adding that one of the downed drones was carrying a bomb that was later defused.
Images released by the junta’s information team purportedly of the aftermath showed a broken, fixed-wing drone lying on tarmac and a large piece of debris in a wooded area.
Local media reported that a PDF group in the area said it had launched drones at military targets in Naypyidaw.
The National Unity Government said on Facebook that the attack had targeted the military’s headquarters and a military air base in Naypyidaw, adding that “initial reports” suggested there had been casualties.
It did not provide details or say what kind of drones had been used in the attack.
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