Myanmar's military boosts air power as it recaptures a key town

BANGKOK -- Myanmar’s military has commissioned new combat aircraft to boost its air capacities, state media reported Friday, as the army steps up efforts to regain territory from resistance forces in the country’s civil war.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper did not specify the number or types of the newly commissioned aircraft, but photos released by the military suggest it received four jet fighters, including two Russian-made Su-30 aircraft widely used for bombing and combat missions.

It was the sixth time the miliary had commissioned new aircraft since it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering armed resistance across the country.

Russia and China are major supporters and arms suppliers of Myanmar’s military government. Western nations have imposed sanctions including the prohibition of arms sales.

The newspaper cited Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar’s ruling military government, as saying that the air force needs to be strong to "protect the state interest effectively.”

He added the air force had demonstrated its capabilities in previous anti-insurgency and counterterrorism operations as well as missions to repel external aggression, according to the report.

The military government has lost large swaths of the country to pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces and ethnic armed groups. It has intensified efforts to retake territory and scored several battlefield gains, and its airstrikes have often caused civilian casualties.

The opposition National Unity Government, or NUG, which coordinates resistance to military rule, and the Karen National Union, an ethnic armed group fighting the army, said in separate statements Monday that about 30 to 40 people were killed when the military used drones, jet fighters and artillery during a ground offensive in villages in the lower-central Bago region between March 5 to March 7.

The powerful Arakan Army ethnic militia, based in western Rakhine state, said Wednesday that 116 captured army soldiers, including officers held in a detention camp in Ann township, were killed when eight military aircraft carried out aerial attacks on Sunday.

The military has not mentioned any attack in Bago and Rakhine. The reports could not be independently confirmed.

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the NUG, told the AP that the commissioning of new aircraft is intended to enhance continued airstrikes on civilian areas.

He said the military was “targeting civilians and continuing to carry out mass killings. It is important for the international community not to turn a blind eye to this reality.”

The Global New Light of Myanmar also said in a separate report that the military has regained control of the ancient town of Tagaung in northern Mandalay after a weekslong offensive.

Tagaung, located about 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, had been under the control of forces aligned with the NUG since August 2024.

The recapture of Tagaung, the last NUG-controlled town in Mandalay Region, marked the latest setback for opposition groups fighting the military.

Nay Phone Latt said resistance forces withdrew from the town after the military launched an offensive using large numbers of troops and heavy weapons, but they still maintain positions in areas outside it.