In a rare blow to the junta’s air dominance, anti-coup rebels in Myanmar have claimed responsibility for shooting down a military fighter jet near Min Taing Pin village in central Myanmar’s Sagaing region on Tuesday. If confirmed, it would mark the first such success for the insurgent forces in the ongoing civil war.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a communist-aligned rebel group, announced that the downing followed four days of clashes in the conflict-hit region. Rebel accounts suggest that two aircraft were returning from a bombing mission when one of them was hit while flying at low altitude.
“A historic moment for us—our fighters shot down an attack jet using machine guns,” said a PLA spokeswoman. Zaw Tun, a member of the allied People’s Defence Force, echoed this claim, crediting coordinated fire for the strike.
Zaw Htet, an administrator from the rebel-held zone, described the aircraft as flying low on return, making it vulnerable to ground fire. Social media was soon flooded with unverified images showing smoke rising from debris, purportedly from the crash site.
The military junta has confirmed the crash but dismissed the rebel claims, attributing the incident to a “sudden engine failure” during a routine training flight. It added that junta troops had secured the crash site and that an internal investigation was underway.
Sagaing, already devastated by the March 2025 earthquake, has remained a hotbed of anti-junta resistance. Although some fighting briefly paused after the disaster, junta airstrikes resumed in full force, including a controversial May bombing that killed 22 people, 20 of them children.
Since seizing power in a 2021 coup, the military regime has relied heavily on air power, often with jets and helicopters sourced from Russia and China. This air superiority has allowed the junta to hold key territories despite widespread armed resistance across ethnic and regional lines.
Tuesday’s reported shootdown, if validated, would represent a symbolic and strategic morale boost for Myanmar’s fragmented opposition forces.
