AFP
Myanmar security services shot down seven drones over the military-built capital Naypyidaw on Thursday, the junta said, in what appeared to be a rare attack on the junta’s centre of power by its opponents.
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 People’s Defence Forces (PDF).
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 added.
Naypyidaw’s airport was temporarily closed after the incident around 10 am local time (0330 GMT), according to a source at the airport, who asked for anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
The source confirmed there were no casualties, adding that one of the downed drones was carrying a bomb that was later defused.
Pictures 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.
– ‘Drop bombs’ –
Outgunned and outnumbered, opponents of the junta have turned to flying commercial drones adapted to carry bombs that can be dropped on military positions, with devastating effect.
In recent months, waves of “drop bomb” attacks across Myanmar have displaced junta troops from positions, hit domestic airports and killed a brigadier-general near the China border.
The term has even entered the lexicon of junta-controlled media, which regularly attacks PDF groups — designated as “terrorists” by the military — that use the drones in battle.
Set amid arid scrubland in the centre of the country, the sprawling military-designed Naypyidaw is home to the junta’s top brass and civil servants.
With a heavy security presence in the surrounding area, the city has seen relative calm as fighting ravages swathes of the country.
Last week, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing oversaw a military parade there to mark Armed Forces Day.
The parade was slimmed down compared to previous years, observers said, with no tanks or missile launchers making the drive-by.
In recent months, the junta has lost swathes of territory in border areas, and analysts say it is relying more on air and artillery strikes to support its embattled troops.
AFP
