Sagaing Region resistance groups have warned of an increased risk of regime airstrikes after a junta jet was shot down on Tuesday.
The jet crashed at Sapar Sae village in Pale Township near the Pale-Gangaw road.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claimed responsibility for shooting down the jet, the first to be shot down by an ethnically Bamar armed group since the 2001 coup.
The regime on Tuesday blamed the crash on engine failure during a training drill.
Ko Zaw Htet, the leader of Pale Township People’s Administration, told residents to expect ground and air operations.
“Whether it just crashed or was shot down, the military will probably retaliate to save face,” he said.
Four villagers were killed when the jet crashed and two more died in a bombing raid hours after the crash.
“We shot down the jet,” said PLA secretary Ni Ni Kyaw. “This will be a threat to the enemy operating in Sagaing Region.”
She added: “Residents from the crash site and nearby villages fled as the regime responded with bombing raids. We are continuing our attack on Kan Dauk police station.”
The regime is reportedly sending reinforcements to Pale Township.
Residents have evacuated their homes in more than 20 villages, including Kan Dauk and Zeephyugon, amid junta air attacks and possible ground raids.
PLA photos show an old F-7 from China. Myanmar’s military bought around 60 F-7, developed by China based on Soviet-made MiG-21 models, in the 1990s, according to former air force officers who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement.
The military planned in 2020 to retire the aging aircraft but they have been used extensively since the 2021 coup.
In 2018, three F-7s crashed during training.
Since the coup, at least 10 military aircraft, including helicopters, have reportedly been shot down. The Kachin Independence Army says it downed two Mi-17 helicopters in Bhamo Township, Kachin State, on May 20, a Mi-17 and an FTC 200G in Waingmaw and Kutkai in January 2024 and a Mi-35 gunship in Momauk in May 2021.
Two K-8Ws were shot down in Karenni State in June and November 2023, and a Eurocopter was destroyed in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, in January 2024, and a Mi-17 in Karenni State was downed in May 2024.
Other claims could not be independently verified due to a lack of wreckage or official confirmation.
During Operation 1027, the Brotherhood Alliance released pictures of Mi-35 wreckage but did not make any report about it.
