A series of explosions rocked Yangon’s International Airport on Thursday night after the Myanmar military outpost at the airport was targeted with improvised artillery rounds, according to resistance groups and locals.
Residents of Mingaladon Township in the north of Yangon, where the airport is located, reported hearing several explosions.
One passenger wrote on his Facebook that he was lucky as there were five blasts at the airport just after he left.
Airport staff said that the airport was shut down for an hour after the attack, but has resumed operations since Friday morning.
Resistance group Liberty Thunder claimed responsibility for the attack via local media outlets.
The group claimed it and another resistance group, Anonymous Mission Team Alpha, fired seven rounds at the junta airbase from improvised rocket launchers in response to the military regime conducting daily airstrikes on civilian targets.
It is still unknown what damage the attack caused.
Pro-junta media outlets reported that a 107mm artillery round exploded near the runway of the airport, whil another hit a drain at the airport near the military’s nursing university. The explosions started fires, added pro-regime media.
“In the summer, we used to erect big fire barriers using tractors as we were afraid that the dry grass in the airport compound would catch fire. If the rockets hit the grass, they would definitely go up in flames,” a former air force officer who defected from the military told The Irrawaddy.
He added that no matter whether significant damage was caused or not, the resistance attacks on Myanmar’s principal airport are a danger for the junta.
On Friday morning, the regime had tightened security in the area by deploying more troops around the airport and elsewhere in Mingaladon Township.
Resistance groups urged civilians to avoid the airbase and junta camp due to the possibility of further attacks.
