Myanmar rebels strike Mandalay Airport with drones — SkimNews
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- People's Defence Forces (PDF) claimed responsibility for the September 10, 2026 attack, saying six "suicide drones" targeted Russian-made Yak-130 fighter jets on the runway, while the military-backed government accused rebels of striking "a non-military, public transportation system."
- The military-backed government said the raid caused no casualties but disrupted flight schedules; the airport was closed protectively for most of Friday September 11 before reopening around 4:00 p.m.
- PDF said three of its members were killed staging the attack and accused the government of "disseminating deceptive propaganda" to make it appear that the civic Mandalay International Airport — located opposite the airbase — was the actual target.
- Thursday's strike was a rare acknowledged rebel attack inside one of Myanmar's large urban areas, which have generally remained a military stronghold during the civil war triggered by the 2021 coup ousting Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.
- The Myanmar military is now on the offensive after five years of conflict; its air force, stocked with Chinese- and Russian-made jets, has been accused by rights groups of striking schools, monasteries, and public festivals in incidents flagged as potential war crimes.
- Both sides are deploying drones in the war, which monitors say has killed more than 100,000 people.
Why it matters: The strike brings combat into Mandalay — an urban area the military has generally held — with the PDF explicitly targeting the warplanes that analysts say are central to the junta's ability to fend off opposition factions. By hitting jets on the tarmac rather than fighting in the countryside, rebels are attempting to degrade the aerial advantage the military relies on against the coalition of pro-democracy and ethnic minority guerrilla groups it is now trying to crush.
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