Myanmar Resistance Drone Strike Forces Mandalay Airport Shutdown

Myanmar’s main pro-democracy resistance group said its armed wing launched drone attacks on a military air base inside Tada-U International Airport near Mandalay on Thursday, September 10, forcing the airport to shut down and disrupting flights.

The airport, which serves Myanmar’s second largest city, remained closed on Friday. The attack is the latest escalation in Myanmar’s more than five year conflict that began after the military seized power in February 2021 and ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the shadow National Unity Government, said the People’s Defence Force, or PDF, used drones to target the military section of the airport compound. “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,” he told The Associated Press.

The PDF said 12 of its units participated in the operation and described the air base as a key air force headquarters used for airstrikes against civilians. It claimed five military personnel, including a colonel, and three resistance fighters were killed. The claims could not be independently verified.

Videos circulating in Myanmar appeared to show a drone flying towards one of two fighter jets inside a hangar. The footage ended as the drone approached the aircraft, leaving it unclear whether the jet, protective netting or another part of the facility was struck. Another video appeared to show people fleeing as a drone approached the hangar.

Myanmar’s military acknowledged the drone attack but gave a different account. State run Global New Light of Myanmar reported that six drones attacked the airport and nearby areas on Thursday afternoon. Security forces, it said, intercepted the drones and disabled their explosives. The report said there were no injuries or damage to vehicles or runways.

Myanmar Airways International announced the suspension of international flights to and from Mandalay airport. Two airport business operators told AP that the facility had been closed for two days and was expected to resume operations on Sunday, September 13. They said they saw no damage to the civilian airport.

Tada-U International Airport is about 30 kilometres southwest of Mandalay and shares its compound with a military air base. The incident highlighted the vulnerability of one of Myanmar’s heavily guarded military locations and the growing use of drones by resistance forces, which remain outnumbered and outgunned by the military.