Mizzima
A drone attack hit the Southeast Military Command Office in Mawlamyine Town, Mon State whilst Vice-Senior General Soe Win, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the junta’s Defence Services, was visiting on 8 April.
The attack happened at about 5:10 pm on 8 April as Vice-Senior General Soe Win and his team were holding a military operational command meeting at the Southeast Military Command Office.
When they came under attack the meeting was abruptly halted so that Vice-Senior General Soe Win could run away from the danger.
The Alpha Bats company, operating under the National Unity Government (NUG), claimed responsibility for the attack which was carried out by its Shar Htoo Waw Technical Force.
“We received information indicating that Soe Win would be attending a meeting, prompting our drone strike. Given the successful targeting, significant damage is expected. We deployed two kamikaze drones with considerable impact”, said an information officer from the Alpha Bats company.
Currently, the extent of the damage and casualties caused by the drone attack is unknown due to the difficulty of obtaining intelligence from inside the Command Office.
Mawlamyine residents reported seeing junta scout drones over the town following the attack.
A resident said: “While I was outdoors, I heard them flying around between 8:45 and 9:00 pm on 8 April.”
The junta has not made any statements about the attack.
Recently defence forces have started using kamikaze drones that crash into a target and explode, destroying themselves in the process, rather than the drones that just drop bombs and mortar rounds onto targets.
Known as one-way attack drones (OWA-UAVs), kamikaze drones were used by defence forces in their attacks on the airport and military headquarters in Naypyidaw on 4 April.
The State Administration Council (SAC) spokesperson in an interview with the BBC Burmese service yesterday said Soe Win is “performing his national duty as normal routine”.
