The leaders of Myanmar’s junta were delivered a shock when around 30 kamikaze drones operated by anti-regime resistance groups targeted the junta boss’s residence, the regime’s military headquarters, and a major military airbase in the junta’s administrative capital on Thursday.
The junta also continued to face an escalation of attacks by People’s Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) across the country over the past five days.
Incidents were reported in Naypyitaw, Sagaing and Magwe regions and Rakhine State.
The Irrawaddy has collected the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs.
Junta’s administrative capital Naypyitaw targeted in kamikaze drone attacks
Anti-regime resistance groups of the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) used 28 improvised kamikaze drones to target Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s residence, his military’s headquarters and a major junta airbase in the regime’s administrative capital Naypyitaw early on Thursday morning, according to a spokesperson for Kloud Drone Team, which was involved in the attack.
The resistance groups used 12 drones to attack the military headquarters, 12 for the military airbase next to Naypyitaw International Airport and four for Min Aung Hlaing’s residence, the drone unit told The Irrawaddy.
After the attack, the junta shut down the international airports in Naypyitaw and Yangon for hours. Details of the damage caused by the drone attacks are not yet clear.
The military junta said its air defense forces managed to destroy two drones in the air and shot down and seized 13 other drones.
Arakan Army continues attacks on junta strongholds in Rakhine
The ethnic Arakan Army said on Thursday it was continuing its attacks on junta bases in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Myebon and Ann townships in Rakhine State.
The AA’s main targets are the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 564 in Buthidaung, the strategic hilltop base of Taw Hein Taung in Ann, and the Kyain Chaung border outpost in Maungdaw.
It has also been attacking the junta’s Base No. 275 in Myebon Township since Tuesday. The junta is conducting airstrikes to defend the base.
Power plant supplying junta weapons factory bombed in Magwe
Resistance drones drop bombs on the Chaung Ku power plant in Pauk Township, Magwe Region on Thursday. / Myaing PDF
Myaing PDF said it and Pauk PDF group used four drones to drop 38 bombs on the Chaung Ku power plant—which is supplying electricity to the 24th Military Weapons Factory based in Pauk Township, Magwe Region—early on Thursday morning.
The groups also fired 15 improvised rocket bombs at the power plant. The attack damaged the plant’s power supply system, halting operations at the weapons factory.
After the attack, regime forces from the pro-junta villages of Suu Poke Kone and Thayet Taw indiscriminately shelled Chaung Ku Village, killing a civilian and injuring two others, Myaing PDF said.
On Tuesday evening, three other resistance groups used five 107-mm rocket bombs and four drone bombs to attack the junta’s Weapons Factory No. 24, said Freedom Revolution Force, which coordinated the attack.
Junta bases bombed in Sagaing
BGS Ayadaw Drone Force said it and other resistance groups used a drone to drop two 60-mm bombs on a howitzer at the 10th Military Training Battalion in Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday afternoon. Details of the damage were unknown. The drone strike was in retaliation for the military stronghold’s random shelling of civilian targets in residential areas in the morning.
That afternoon, the resistance group used a drone to drop a 120-mm improvised bomb on the house of the chief of the Ayadaw Township Police Station in Ayadaw town. Police casualties are still unknown.
Junta demining troops blasted in Sagaing
Black Eagle Defense Force (Myinmu) said it and local resistance groups used three clusters of 11 land mines each to ambush regime forces searching for and removing mines planted by the resistance groups along the Monywa-Mandalay Road in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region on Monday morning.
The blasts hit junta foot soldiers, a bulldozer and a military vehicle. Many regime forces are believed to have been killed or injured.
That afternoon, the resistance groups used drones to drop four bombs on a military base on the same road in Myinmu Township. Military casualties were unknown, the resistance group said.
