Karenni resistance forces claim to have shot down a Myanmar regime fighter jet that went missing on Tuesday during their offensive in Hpasawng town, Karenni (Kayah) State.
The Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) made the claim after reporting wreckage of a warplane was found close to a village on the border with Bago Region.
The FTC-2000G fighter jet lost contact with its base on Tuesday night as resistance fighters were attacking the junta’s Infantry Battalions 134 and 135 Headquarters in Hpasawng, which were being defended with air support.
On Thursday, KNDF deputy commander Maui (Marwi) shared pictures and a video of the wreckage on his Facebook. The footage shows resistance troops at the crash site shouting, “It happened in Karenni State thanks to Karenni fighters!”
The regime confirmed that one of its fighter jets had gone missing about 130 kilometers southeast of the capital, Naypyitaw, but blamed mechanical failure or extreme weather. It said a search and rescue team would be dispatched to the area.
Maui told The Irrawaddy he believed the downed FTC-2000G was likely the one announced missing.
“The junta was attacking us with all kinds of jets, so it could be one of them,” he said.
Four fighter jets and one transport aircraft took off from Naypyitaw Air Base and Shante Air Base in Meiktila to the southeast, around midnight on Tuesday, according to Enemy Air Route Channel, a military aviation monitoring group.
The China-made FTC-2000G is valued at US$8.5 million. The regime purchased six of the jets from China and they were delivered in two batches to Namhsan Air base in northern Shan State in 2022.
Video footage being shared widely appears to show resistance forces seizing Battalion 134 and capturing dozens of regime troops and their family members, along with weapons and ammunition. However, Karenni resistance groups had not officially confirmed the seizure as of press time on Thursday.
On June 10, the anti-regime People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claimed it shot down a junta fighter jet during the battle for Kan Dauk police station in Pale, Sagaing Region. Junta-run media said it had suffered engine failure during a drill.
On May 20, the Kachin Independence Army and allies used suicide drones to shoot down two of three junta helicopters airlifting troops and supplies to the embattled 21st Military Operation Command headquarters in Bhamo town, Kachin State.
One of the helicopters crashed and burned in a forest, another crashed-landed in nearby Shwegu town, and the third managed to reach its base in the Kachin capital, Myitkyina. Junta media blamed the forest crash on engine failure. The KIA and allies destroyed the crash-landed helicopter with drones the following day.
The junta has lost at least 10 aircraft – 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 coup.
Engine failure is believed to have caused the loss of at least six other junta aircraft, including fighter jets.
