Myanmar military jet crashes due to technical failure

February 29, 2024 10:45 PM

A Myanmar military jet crashed on Thursday due to technical failure, the junta said, the third aircraft it has said has crashed in four months.

The plane crashed near Magway town in central Myanmar shortly after midday due to "machine failure," the junta said in a statement, adding the pilot had successfully bailed out and been rescued.

It did not give details on the model of the plane but a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP it was a Russian-built MIG-29.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military's 2021 ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi's government that sparked huge protests and conflict across much of the country .

The junta is struggling to crush resistance to its rule by long-established ethnic rebel groups and newer pro-democracy People's Defence Forces.

In recent weeks its troops have lost swathes of territory near the northern China border and control of several lucrative trade routes.

The junta's Russian and Chinese-built air fleet is being increasingly called on to help out embattled troops on the ground, analysts say.

In January a transport plane overshot a runway while landing in neighbouring India to collect soldiers who had fled armed insurgents fighting the military.

Several crew members were injured.

In November a light fighter jet carrying two pilots crashed in the east of the country, with anti-coup fighters claiming they had shot it down.

Amnesty International has said the military is likely using air strikes as "collective punishment" against civilians supporting anti-coup fighters.