Myanmar’s government is blaming insurgents for an attack on an ATR 72-600 turboprop which was departing Myitkyina airport, in the north of the country, on 20 February.
The aircraft, operated by Myanmar National Airlines, had been bound for the central city of Mandalay.
Myanmar’s national defence and security council states that the aircraft was damaged during a “terrorist attack” by insurgents from the People’s Defence Force and the Kachin Independence Army.
It adds that the attackers used first-person view “suicide” drones, and that the ATR sustained damage to is nose, mid-fuselage and tail.
The council says the “deliberate attack on a civilian airline” which conducts non-military public transport is a “war crime” under international law.
“Security forces are conducting necessary security operations in the area,” it adds. “The entire public must condemn the terrorist attack.”
The council states that a NOTAM has been issued to suspend flight operations at Myitkyina airport temporarily owing to “minor damage to the airport apron”.
“Urgent measures are being taken to ensure normal flight operations to facilitate public travel and the flow of goods,” it adds.
Myanmar’s office of the commander-in-chief of defence services says no passengers or crew members were injured during the event. The office indicates the airframe involved is the nine-year old XY-AMI.
It accuses the PDF and KIA of conducting “indiscriminate and barbaric” attacks on infrastructure with the intention of “destroying regional development”, blaming them for a previous attack on Myitkyina airport on 12 February.
