Myanmar rebels claim to have shot down a fighter jet being used by military to attack ground targets

BANGKOK (AP) — A military fighter jet crashed and burned Tuesday in an area that has seen intense fighting during Myanmar’s civil war, with a rebel group claiming to have shot it down while state-run media reported it suffered a mechanical failure.

The aircraft went down midday in the Sagaing region, about 140 kilometers (85 miles) west of Mandalay, Myanmar ‘s second largest city, according to state-run MRTV television.

It did not identify the type of jet or mention casualties, and said a search and recovery effort was underway in Pale township where it went down.

Local media reports identified the plane as the two-seater Chinese FTC-2000G, a fighter ground-attack jet, and broadcast images of a crashed plane with body parts nearby.

Sagaing region is a stronghold of armed resistance to the military, which seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Opposition to the takeover began peacefully, but escalated into a civil war as the authorities resorted increasingly to lethal force to quell dissent.

Ni Ni Kyaw, a spokesperson for a militia known as the People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, told The Associated Press its fighters had been involved in an assault on a police station in Pale township when they shot down the jet at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

She said the military’s jets had dropped hundreds of bombs in the area over the past week in support of ground troops fighting against the PLA and other resistance forces.

The PLA posted a video and pictures of the jet’s smoking wreckage in a Pale township village.

The military has increasingly used airstrikes to counter the widespread armed struggle against its rule, relying primarily on aircraft from Russia and China, which continue to supply government forces with high-tech weaponry.

The FTC-2000G was first delivered by China in 2022, after the military’s seizure of power.

In May, a military airstrike in Sagaing hit a school, killing as many as 20 students and two teachers, according to witnesses and independent media reports. MRTV aired a report denying the attack.

The military is believed to have lost at least five helicopters and four jet fighters, but claims from resistance groups to have shot them down have been impossible to definitively confirm due to the tight restrictions on the media and the remoteness of the areas where much of the combat takes place.