Drone attacks on Naypyitaw military targets to continue, sources say

The junta deployed troops across Naypyitaw and started a search for “missing” drones fired at the military’s headquarters and an air force base last week in an attack by resistance forces, including those under the command of the National Unity Government (NUG). An officer in one such group, the Naypyitaw People’s Defence Force (PDF), told Myanmar Now that his forces shot 35 “kamikaze drones”—pilotless apparatuses intended to detonate on impact—in the April 4 assault. The targets were the junta command where regime chief Min Aung Hlaing’s office is located, as well as the Aye Lar air force base next to Naypyitaw International Airport. “Sixteen drones successfully hit the military command while four crashed,” the officer said of the 20 drones fired at the headquarters. Of the 15 intended for the Aye Lar base, “13 hit and two crashed.” “This news has been confirmed. This operation was a success,” he added. Another officer in the NUG’s designated drone force explained that the attack took five months of preparation and was carried out “from miles away” and “did not require a high budget.” Maung Maung Swe, the spokesperson for the NUG’s Ministry of Defence, commented that more attacks would be carried out against “military targets” in Naypyitaw and warned the public to stay clear of these areas. “We already have our own registered territories and I would just like to say that it is no longer safe for the military anywhere—not even in Naypyitaw,” he said. Junta propaganda publications initially reported on April 5 that the military had intercepted the drone strike, incapacitating two devices mid-air and seizing 13, four of which were later destroyed for carrying explosives. These four were said to have been fired east of Naypyitaw’s airport, and shot down at the site by the air force at 10:30pm. According to data released over the following days, the junta’s air force maintained that it seized 13 drones, but later claimed to have shot down nine in total, alleging that 22 of the weapons were fired, a number lower than that stated by the PDF. Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify the number of drones fired in the attack, or the number that hit their targets. The military council denied that any casualties were suffered or that structures were damaged in the assault. High security areas The military command, located in Zayarthiri Township, is one of Naypyitaw’s most securitised locations, with no public access points. A local that lives near the site said that he believed three drones crashed along a forested route through military territory near the command, possibly in or around a lake. The Naypyitaw airport—located in Lewe Township and used by foreign leaders and junta members—is adjacent to the targeted Aye Lar air force base, where many of the regime’s fighter jets and helicopters are kept. Area locals claimed that one of the drones fired by the resistance exploded on Naypyitaw Airport’s runway; it was later confirmed by a junta spokesperson. Other residents of the area said that the drones were intercepted before they entered the air force base, and no explosions or alarms were heard. “It was a windy day, and there were signal jammers working too, which crashed some of the drones,” a source close to the military families living inside the Aye Lar compound told Myanmar Now. “I heard that no drones fell inside the air force base.” Junta helicopters and military trucks were seen patrolling the area around Aye Lar following the attack. The Naypyitaw International Airport reopened the following morning and resumed its usual operations, a staff member said. While the airport, air force base, and military command centre are equipped with signal jamming devices that disrupt the path of drones, the Naypyitaw PDF officer who spoke to Myanmar Now said that the drones they deployed had “upgraded technology” that could bypass the jammers. Junta spokesperson Gen Zaw Min Tun told BBC Burmese that drone attacks were difficult to stop. “We need to study more about this technology and defend against it. We are continuing our endeavours to solve this problem,” he said.

Drone attacks on Naypyitaw military targets to continue, sources say

After firing dozens of ‘kamikaze drones’ at the military-controlled capital, sources in the resistance and the National Unity Government warn that the junta ‘is no longer safe’

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