Myanmar’s anti-regime People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claimed responsibility for shooting down a junta fighter jet during the battle for Kan Dauk police station in Pale Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday.
The jet is at least the 10th regime aircraft downed by resistance forces since the 2021 military coup.
The incident comes just three weeks after the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) downed two regime transport helicopters during fighting for Bhamo town in Kachin State on May 20.
“We can confirm we shot down the junta fighter jet at around 12.15 pm today,” PLA spokesperson Daw Ni Ni Kyaw told The Irrawaddy.
The PLA and allied resistance groups began attacking Kan Dauk police station on June 2, while the regime has responded with airstrikes by fighter jets and Y12 airplanes to defend the stronghold, she added.
A local witness told The Irrawaddy that resistance forces used a 0.50-caliber M2 Browning machine gun to down the junta warplane. The aircraft crashed in a village near the battle site, exploding and burning on impact, the witness said.
Resistance video shows fragments of a crashed jet strewn near a burning village monastery and building. Part of a body, believed to be the pilot, can also be seen in the video.
The regime stated on Tuesday that one of its fighter jets had crashed and caught fire in Pale Township, but said the incident was caused by an engine failure during a drill.
On May 20, the KIA and allied groups used suicide drones and guns to shoot down two of three junta helicopters airlifting troops and supplies to the embattled 21st Military Operation Command headquarters in Bhamo town.
One of the transport helicopters crashed and burned in a forest while the other crash-landed in Shwegu, 22 kilometers away. The third returned to its base in the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina.
The junta again blamed engine failure for the crash, though a resistance video showed a drone hitting the helicopter’s rotor. The KIA claimed it also destroyed the crash-landed helicopter with drones, posting photos of the stricken aircraft exploding while encircled by military trucks on a football pitch.
The junta has lost a total of four fighter jets, five helicopters, and one helicopter gunship in battles with resistance forces across Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, Karenni and Karen states and Sagaing Region since the 2021 military takeover.
