Drone Attack Halts Flights at Mandalay Airport — SkimNews
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- Myanmar's military-backed government accused rebel groups of attempted drone attacks on Mandalay's Tada-U International Airport, the country's second-busiest airport.
- Myanmar Airways International cancelled all international flights from the airport on September 11 and 12, transferring domestic flights to a nearby airport until further notice for "operational reasons."
- The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported security forces thwarted the attack by the People's Defence Force, which fired six "suicide drones" at the facility, causing temporary disruption to some domestic flights.
- No casualties or damage to vehicles or airport runways were reported, though local media claimed resistance forces were targeting military jet fighters at the airport — a claim Al Jazeera and news agencies could not independently verify.
- Both rebel groups and Myanmar's military are now using drones in the civil war, which has killed more than 100,000 people since the February 2021 coup, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project.
- Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's former military government chief, was elected president by a military-backed parliament in April, formalizing his grip on power five years after ousting Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.
Why it matters: The drone strike on Mandalay — Myanmar's second-busiest airport — shows the civil war has reached strategic civilian infrastructure. With over 100,000 killed since the 2021 coup per ACLED and both sides now deploying drones, the attack halts international connectivity for Myanmar's second-largest city even though the junta reports no runway damage or casualties.
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