Myanmar airport closed following reported drone attack

Military government pins attack on pro-democracy rebels it has been battling since seizing power in 2021.

Flight operations ‌at Myanmar’s second-busiest airport have been halted, as the country’s military-backed government accused rebel groups of attempted drone attacks.

Myanmar Airways International said on its Facebook page late on Thursday that all international flights from Mandalay’s Tada-U International Airport on September 11 and 12 had been cancelled.

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Domestic flights were being transferred to a nearby airport until further notice for “operational reasons”, the statement added.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar outlet reported that security forces had thwarted an attack on the airport by the People’s Defence Force. It said the pro-democracy rebel group had fired six “suicide drones” at ⁠the facility.

“The attack temporarily disrupted some ⁠domestic flights. However, no casualties or damage to vehicles or airport runways were reported,” the newspaper said.

Local media reported that resistance forces were targeting military jet fighters ⁠at the airport, although the situation could not be independently verified by Al Jazeera or news agencies.

Myanmar has been gripped by ⁠conflict since the ousting of an elected ⁠government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 coup, prompting a nationwide resistance movement that has evolved into a civil war between the ‌military and an array of armed ethnic and pro-democracy groups.

Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s former military government chief, was elected president ‌by ‌a military-backed parliament in April, formalising his grip on power after five years of army rule.

This human rights situation in Myanmar has plummeted “to a new low,” according to the United Nations, citing “brutal abuse” of the Rohingya minority and the devastating impact of illicit economic activity, including illegal mining for rare earths.

Rebel groups and Myanmar’s military are now both using drones in the protracted civil war, which has killed more than 100,000 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project.