Resistance forces carried out simultaneous drone attacks on military targets in the regime’s administrative centre of Naypyitaw on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG).
The attacks—targeting the Aye Lar air force base and the military headquarters where the office of junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is located—were launched by the Kloud Drone Team and Lethal Prop Weapons Team, two special units of the NUG’s armed wing, the People’s Defence Force.
The MOD’s statement on the attacks did not provide any details regarding damage or casualties, but the regime’s Ministry of Information (MOI) claimed on Thursday that none of the drones had reached their targets.
The MOI statement said that the military’s air defence forces neutralised a total of seven drones at around 11am on Thursday—four that were intercepted near Naypyitaw International Airport and another three in Zeyathiri Township.
Residents of a village near the Aye Lar airbase, which is located next to Naypyitaw International Airport, told Myanmar Now that they did not hear any explosions, but noted that security has been tightened in the area after three military vehicles arrived following the attack.
One local who said he witnessed the attack confirmed that the drones were not able to reach their intended targets.
“The drones landed at the edge of the airport runway. There was little or no damage and there were no casualties,” the man said.
Captain Zin Yaw, a Myanmar army officer who has defected to the resistance, said it was also highly unlikely that the drone attack on Naypyitaw’s military headquarters was successful.
Naypyitaw International Airport has been temporarily closed since the attacks, according to local sources.
Lethal Prop, one of the drone units involved in Thursday’s operation, previously used drones to drop bombs on the Aye Lar airbase in September of last year.
