\n Myanmar pro-democracy guerillas on Friday claimed a drone attack that shut the nation's second-biggest airport, saying they targeted military jets stationed at the aviation hub.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mandalay airport in central Myanmar was raided by six \"suicide drones\" on Thursday afternoon, the military-backed government said in a statement, causing no casualties but disrupting flight schedules.\n<\/p>\n
\n The statement accused rebels of targeting \"a non-military, public transportation system\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The People's Defence Forces rebel group, claiming responsibility for the attack, said they had targeted Russian-made Yak-130 fighter jets housed by the runway.\n<\/p>\n
\n The People's Defence Forces are the largest pro-democracy guerilla group to form after the military triggered civil war with a 2021 coup ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.\n<\/p>\n
\n A statement shared on the group's Facebook page said three of its members had been killed staging the attack.\n<\/p>\n
\n It accused the government of \"disseminating deceptive propaganda to make it appear as though civic Mandalay International Airport, located opposite the airbase, was the target\".\n<\/p>\n
\n A security source told AFP the airport was \"closed protectively\" for most of Friday before being reopened around 4:00 pm (0930 GMT).\n<\/p>\n
\n Mandalay airport is an international and domestic travel hub, but civilian air raid warning groups frequently identify it as a runway for military jets launching sorties in the civil war.\n<\/p>\n
\n After five years of conflict, the military is now on the offensive against the myriad of pro-democracy and ethnic minority guerrilla groups it is battling.\n<\/p>\n
\n Thursday's apparent drone raid was a rare acknowledged rebel attack in one of Myanmar's large urban areas, which have generally remained a stronghold for the military.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was not possible to verify the civilian or military nature of the attack site, but AFP reporters have in the past seen military aircraft flying over Mandalay airport.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rebel groups and Myanmar's military are both now using drones in the civil war, which some monitors say has killed more than 100,000 people.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, the military's air force, stocked with Chinese- and Russian-made jets, has proven vital in fending off opposition factions, analysts say.\n<\/p>\n
\n The air wing has also been accused of targeting civilians at schools, monasteries and public festivals -- inflicting mass casualties flagged by rights groups as potential war crimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Myanmar pro-democracy guerillas on Friday claimed a drone attack that shut the nation's second-biggest airport, saying they targeted military jets stationed at the aviation hub. Mandalay airport in central Myanmar was raided by six \"suicide drones\" on Thursday afternoon, the military-backed government said in a statement, causing no casualties but disrupting flight schedules. The statement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-165019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n