Myanmar Resistance Claims Downing of Junta Fighter Jet

[geovalin]

maui

 

A Myanmar military fighter jet has crashed in the conflict-ridden eastern state of Kayah, with anti-junta resistance forces claiming they shot it down during a fierce battle earlier this week.

 

The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), a key ethnic resistance group, said its fighters brought down the aircraft on Wednesday near Hpasawng township, a remote area about 160km southeast of the capital, Naypyitaw. The wreckage, along with the bodies of two airmen, was reportedly discovered by Thursday morning.

 

Photos and video footage shared by the KNDF and circulated on local media show the charred remains of what the group identified as a Chinese-made FTC-2000G ground-attack jet, with KNDF fighters posing at the site.

 

While the junta has not confirmed the cause of the crash or the fate of the crew, state-run newspaper Myanma Alinn reported on Thursday that a military aircraft had disappeared from radar the previous evening during what it described as long-range training manoeuvres. The military attributed the disappearance to possible technical failure or weather-related issues, without disclosing the jet type or crew status.

 

The KNDF claims the plane was heading towards their positions to launch an airstrike, just days after the group captured a junta infantry base in the same township. According to spokesperson Tar El Soe, the KNDF had stationed heavy machine guns in anticipation of such attacks.

 

If confirmed, this would mark the third fighter jet the Karenni resistance claims to have downed since the military coup in 2021. The junta is believed to have lost at least nine aircraft, including helicopters and fixed-wing fighters, since Myanmar’s civil war escalated following the February 2021 military takeover.

 

Kayah State, home to the Karenni ethnic minority and bordering Thailand, has become one of the fiercest battlegrounds in the conflict. The junta has increasingly relied on air power to compensate for losses on the ground, using Chinese and Russian-made aircraft against rebel-held areas. Meanwhile, resistance groups, though poorly equipped, have adapted tactics and weaponry to target the military’s aerial advantage.

 

The incident underscores the growing capabilities of Myanmar’s armed resistance—and the deepening vulnerability of a regime locked in a grinding, multi-front war.

 

-2025-07-04

[FlorC]

That's real clever , posing for a picture.

They are in the system now.