Myanmar’s resistance carries out drone attacks against military headquarters

Myanmar's ruling junta suffers another major blow at a time it is struggling to maintain control over the country’s central regions, the exiled National Unity Government said. The operation took five months of preparation, another source states. The military is facing increasing difficulties.

Naypyidaw (AsiaNews/Agencies) – For the first time since civil war broke out in Myanmar, a series of drone attacks were launched this morning against targets in the capital Naypyidaw.

This represents another blow to Myanmar’s ruling military junta, which seized power in a coup in February 2021 that set off the conflict.

In recent months, army troops have begun to retreat and abandon posts near the country’s borders, concentrating in the central regions around the capital, the military’s centre of power.

The news of the attack was initially reported by the exiled National Unity Government (NUG), formed by former lawmakers from the National League for Democracy, the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi who is currently in prison.

The attacks were "synchronized operations" conducted "simultaneously" by the People's Defence Forces (PDF, the NUG’s armed wing), “targeting both the headquarters of the terrorist military and Alar Air Base,” near Naypyidaw International Airport, the NUG said in a statement, without giving further details about the damage caused or the number of casualties.

In the following hours, some pro-military media reported that seven drones were shot down, while an anonymous source said that the capital's airport was closed for a few hours.

A spokesperson for the Kloud Drone Team, which works closely with the PDF, told The Irrawaddy newspaper that 28 drones were used for the attack against three targets (not two), namely junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing’s residence, his military headquarters, and the highly fortified Aye Lar Air Base, home to several fighter jets.

The operation took five months of preparation, the spokesperson explained, stressing that they "have plans to do more attacks". For the resistance, the air base was an important target, because the junta has so far managed to maintain control over some areas of the country through its air force, with attacks often carried out against civilian structures.

In late 2023, the NUG Ministry of Defence said that it had distributed more than 400 drones to PDF battalions, while ethnic militias allied with the PDF have conducted a ground offensive in the northern Shan State in recent months, liberating several areas on the border with China, a sign that the military regime’s troops are increasingly in difficulty.

According to experts, the capitulation of a large city could further weaken the morale of soldiers and pave the way for the end of the war.

• myanmar
• civil war
• drone attack
• military headquarters
• aye lar air base
• min aung hlaing
• residence
• shan state
• ethnic militias
• offensive
• border
• national unity government
• nug