CNI News

2 Oct 2022

No one has claimed responsibility for shooting a passenger plane which was landing at Loikaw Airport in the morning of 30^th September, triggering a blame game.

The SAC accused the KNPP and the PDF, which are active in Kayah State, of shooting the plane on 30^th September.

However, the KNPP, Loikaw PDF, Demawso PDF, Moyebye PDF, Pekhon PDF and the KNDF denied the accusation, saying Tatmadaw personnel are stationed around the airport.

The KNDF has engaged in fierce fighting with the Tatmadaw in Kayah State.

An official from the KNDF told the CNI that his forces did not shoot the passenger plane.

A map showing the location of the shooting.

 

He said, “It was a civilian plane. We have never instructed our troops to shoot at buses and planes. Ours is not such an organization and we have our own policies and principles. We never target civilians. We fight only with the junta.”

The SAC announced that a bullet fired by the KNPP and the PDF hit the fuselage of the plane on 30^th September, injuring a passenger on the right cheek.

The plane was carrying 63 passengers on its Yangon-Nay Pyi Taw, Loikaw-Yangon flight and landing at Loikaw airport when it was hit by a bullet.

SAC spokesperson Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun said, “When the plane was landing at the airport, members of the KNPP and the PDF shot it with small arms form the right of the runway. Shooting a passenger plane amounted to committing a war crime. It is necessary for the public and organizations that want peace and stability should collectively condemn the act. If something harmful had happened to the plane, lives of members of the public would have been endangered. Moreover, it was also an attempt to disrupt the transportation of local residents.”

Local infantry and artillery battalions were stationed around the airport, said an official from the KNDF.

The plane was hit by a bullet.

He said, “It was in no way possible for us to shoot the plane because the airport is surrounded by battalions of the Tatmadaw. Moreover, its landing and taking-off routes are also secured by the Tatmadaw. There are three battalions of the Tatmadaw near the landing runway. Tatmadaw battalions are also deployed in villages where fighting is ongoing. There is an artillery battalion providing heavy weapon support for their troops. It was in no way possible for our troops to shoot the plane.”

Fighting is ongoing between the Tatmadaw and joint forces of the KA, the KNDF and the PDF.

The clashes have displaced more than 160,000 people and at least 436 houses were burnt down, according to the ISP-Myanmar.