Myanmar resistance forces shoot down junta fighter jet near Sagaing-Magway border

A junta war plane crashed into a monastery in Sagaing Region’s Pale Township on Tuesday after being shot down by anti-regime forces operating along the border with Magway Region, according to witnesses. The incident occurred near the village of Kant Daunt, where regime and resistance forces have been clashing for control of a strategic junta outpost since June 2. A spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) told Myanmar Now that the group shot the fighter jet down while the two sides were fighting on Tuesday. “Our troops shot down a junta fighter jet at around 12:15pm today during the battle to take control of the base in Kant Daunt,” the spokesperson said. Local sources said the jet crashed into a monastery in the village of Sa Par Sayt after carrying out airstrikes near Zee Phyu Kone, a village less than four miles from the crash site. “The wreckage is on a house near the monastery. Both the house and the monastery caught fire after the explosion from the aircraft,” an eyewitness from Pale Township said. “There may have been civilian casualties in the house that was hit, but we haven’t been able to confirm it yet,” he added. Sources also said that a body, presumed to be the pilot’s, was found near the wreckage of the aircraft. According to a local resistance fighter, Zee Phyu Kone—regarded as a stronghold of the pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia—was targeted because a base there had come under attack from anti-junta forces. “The fighter jet conducted an aerial assault on Zee Phyu Kone before turning southeast. As it climbed above, the engine suddenly went silent and it crashed shortly afterward,” the resistance fighter said. Video footage posted on social media showed a monastery engulfed in flames. However, there were still no confirmed civilian casualties at the time of reporting. Sources also said that villagers and resistance fighters were trying to put out the fire, but their efforts were hindered by a junta Y-12 aircraft hovering above the village. The military has carried out multiple airstrikes in Pale Township since PLA-led forces began attacking the base at Kant Daunt early last week. Over the weekend, at least three elderly civilians were killed in two separate attacks on schools in the township. Kant Daunt is located along a major highway connecting the town of Pale to Gangaw in Magway Region. The outpost there is one of only four still controlled by the junta in Pale Township.

Myanmar resistance forces shoot down junta fighter jet near Sagaing-Magway border

The People’s Liberation Army said it downed the aircraft during a battle with junta troops at an outpost in Sagaing’s Pale Township

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