Myanmar fighter jet crashes as pressure grows on military regime | News

Anti-coup forces say they shot down airplane, however navy says crash was results of a technical downside.

A fighter jet has crashed in japanese Myanmar amid rising strain from anti-coup forces on the generals who seized energy in a coup in 2021.

The Sit-Tat jet crashed in Kayah State close to the border with Thailand on Saturday with the Karenni Nationalities Defence Drive (KNDF) claiming it had shot down the airplane.

Nevertheless, navy spokesperson Zaw Min Tun advised state-run MRTV the plane got here down due to a technical situation and that each pilots ejected safely. He mentioned it had been on a coaching flight.

The crash comes with the navy dealing with probably the most critical problem from anti-coup forces because it seized energy from the elected authorities of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

An alliance of ethnic armed teams in northern Shan state launched an offensive two weeks in the past that has captured a sequence of cities and dozens of navy outposts close to the border with China, emboldening teams in different components of Myanmar to step up their campaigns in opposition to the generals.

About 50,000 folks have been displaced in Shan State, and 40,000 in neighbouring Sagaing and Kachin states, in accordance with the United Nations.

A press release posted on the KNDF’s Fb web page mentioned hearth from heavy machine weapons hit the fighter in its fuselage and a wing earlier than it crashed removed from the battlefield leaving a path of smoke.

The KNDF and the Karenni Military — the armed wing of the Karenni Nationwide Progressive Occasion — credited their members for bringing down the airplane.

Mizzima, a Myanmar information outlet, posted photographs of what it mentioned had been the deserted helmet and parachute of one of many pilots.

The KNDF is amongst dozens of teams which were battling to revive democracy in Myanmar following the navy’s removing of Aung San Suu Kyi’s authorities.