Junta gyrocopter crashes after bombing village in Bago Region

A junta-operated gyrocopter crashed in eastern Bago Region’s Phyu Township on Thursday after carrying out bombings on a local village, according to resistance forces based in the area. The bombing targeted Ma Kyi Kone, a village approximately eight miles east of the junta-controlled town of Phyu, killing a man in his 50s, a member of the People’s Defense Force Battalion 3 told Myanmar Now on Friday. “This was the first gyrocopter attack in our area,” the resistance fighter said. “Ma Kyi Kone is a small village, and most of the residents are Burmese. There was no fighting in the area at the time of the attack.” At least seven houses were damaged in the bombing, which occurred at around 1:30pm. One of the gyrocopters involved in the attack crashed after the bombing, likely due to a mechanical failure, according to the resistance group. The crash, which killed both pilots, took place near the village of Ta Khun Taing, about six miles west of Ma Kyi Kone. This area is also home to a junta checkpoint. Before the gyrocopter bombing, junta troops had carried out artillery strikes and drone attacks on Ma Kyi Kone. A resistance fighter from Phyu Township said, “They have recently started using gyrocopters and suicide drones, even in areas where we haven’t had any clashes.” Sources report that both gyrocopters took off from a football field in Mone, a town under junta control in neighboring Kyaukkyi Township, less than five miles northeast of Ma Kyi Kone. While Phyu Township’s main towns, including Phyu and Kanyutkwin, remain under military control, most rural areas are controlled by resistance forces. At least three villages east of Phyu have junta checkpoints. Phyu Township lies within the territory of the Karen National Liberation Army’s Brigade 2. Since early this year, the military regime has deployed gyrocopters to conduct bombings in resistance-controlled areas across Sagaing, Magway, and Mandalay regions, following their widespread use of paramotors. In September and October, at least three people were killed and four others injured in gyrocopter assaults in Wetlet and Ye-U townships in Sagaing Region. In late October, a junta gyrocopter dropped bombs on a school in Sagaing Region’s Shwebo Township, causing significant damage.

Junta gyrocopter crashes after bombing village in Bago Region

A man was killed in the bombing raid and both pilots died in the crash, according to resistance sources

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