Myanmar military plane crashes on Indian runway on trip to retrieve its soldiers

A Myanmar military plane crashed after veering off a runway in Mizoram, India, on Tuesday while en route to bringing back soldiers who had recently crossed the neighbouring country’s border. More than half of the 14 crew members were injured in the incident, which the junta blamed on “technical failure” in a statement issued later that night. According to international media reports, the Chinese-made Y-8 aircraft had been sent to retrieve Myanmar army soldiers who had fled the frontlines against the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine and southern Chin states for nearby India, where the authorities have been facilitating their return to the Myanmar junta’s forces. A military council statement released on Tuesday evening said that the plane in question departed from Meikhtila in Mandalay Region at 10am to engage in “India-Myanmar military collaboration.” The junta’s information team did not provide details on the severity of the injuries sustained by eight people on board, but local Indian media outlet Northeast Rising reported that four were seriously hurt and rushed to hospital. Military planes like the one that crashed on Tuesday have the capacity to carry nearly 100 uninjured passengers, and are frequently used to transport troops, airlift supplies, or host air clinics to evacuate wounded soldiers. “Due to technical failure, the aircraft skidded off the runway while it was landing at Mizoram’s Lengpui Airport at 11:20am,” the Myanmar regime said in its statement, claiming that an inspection of the technical issues was being undertaken. Some 276 Myanmar army soldiers, headed by a colonel, reportedly entered a Mizoram village last week after the Arakan Army, a powerful ethnic armed organisation, overran their base in Chin State’s Paletwa Township. On Monday, citing India’s home affairs ministry, Northeast Rising reported that 184 were flown back to Myanmar on two army flights. The remaining 92 were set to be transported to Myanmar on Tuesday in the plane that overshot the runway. The Indian air force airlifted more than 100 Myanmar army soldiers back to the military from different locations in Mizoram at least three times in November. A total of 635 Myanmar troops stationed in the region are believed to have crossed the Indian border. Myanmar political analyst Than Soe Naing said that it remained “unclear” whether the soldiers ended up in India accidentally, since there is no clear marker or fence defining the border, or if they went there to voluntarily contact their commanders in order to return home, or if they intended to defect. “They have two options: surrender or escape,” he explained. “I think they didn’t want to die under the military command, so they chose to flee to India.” He also pointed out that the troops might perceive a surrender to the Arakan Army as “losing their dignity,” so they went to India knowing that “India has a reputation of sending the Myanmar soldiers back.”

Myanmar military plane crashes on Indian runway on trip to retrieve its soldiers

It is unclear if the junta troops in India crossed the border accidentally, were hoping to be repatriated by the military, or if they intended to defect, a political observer says

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