Mandalay Airport Shut After Rebel Drone Attack — SkimNews
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- Myanmar Airways International said on its official Facebook page late Thursday that all international flights to and from Mandalay's Tada-U International Airport have been temporarily suspended, with domestic flights transferred to a nearby airport until further notice.
- Flights on September 11 and 12 were cancelled, an unnamed official at the airline's Bangkok office told Reuters, citing the closure as the reason.
- State-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported that security forces thwarted the attack by the People's Defence Force, a pro-democracy militant group, which fired six first-person-view suicide drones at the airport.
- No casualties or damage to vehicles or airport runways were reported, according to the state-run newspaper, though local media reported resistance forces were targeting military jet fighters stationed at the airport.
- Reuters said it could not independently verify the situation on the ground in Myanmar.
Why it matters: Even with the military claiming it thwarted the drone strike, Myanmar's second-largest city lost its main air link for at least two days — a sign that resistance forces can now force temporary shutdowns of major civilian-military dual-use airports. Targeting military jets at Tada-U signals rebels are also pursuing higher-value counter-air strikes than the roadside bombings and small-arms clashes that defined earlier phases of the post-2021 civil war.
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