Mandalay airport shut for two days after six ‘suicide drones’ attack, military-backed government says

Mandalay’s international and domestic airport was closed for two days after the military-backed government said six “suicide drones” struck the facility on Thursday, causing no casualties but disrupting flight schedules, AFP reported.

Immediate disruption and protective closure

The government said the drone attack took place on Thursday afternoon. While the statement said the strikes caused no casualties, a security source told AFP on Friday that “Mandalay airport is closed for today and tomorrow.”

A second security officer at another Myanmar airport confirmed to AFP that the Mandalay facility would be “closed for maintenance” until Sunday.

The security source who first confirmed the closure said:

“The attack happened some distance from the airport building, but the airport is closed protectively,”

and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

Who the government blamed

The military-backed government blamed the strike on pro-democracy guerrillas who took up arms after the 2021 coup. Its statement named the main rebel grouping as the People’s Defence Forces and described the airport as “a non-military, public transportation system.”

Verification and the wider conflict

AFP said it was not possible to verify whether the attack site was civilian or military, and noted that its reporters have in the past seen military aircraft flying over Mandalay airport.

The report places the incident in the context of Myanmar’s wider conflict that began when the armed forces staged a coup in 2021, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy. After five years of fighting, the military is engaged in operations against pro-democracy and ethnic minority guerrilla groups.

AFP also reported that both rebel groups and the military are using drones in the civil war, and that some monitors say the conflict has killed more than 100,000 people. The military’s air wing, equipped with Chinese- and Russian-made jets, has been described by analysts in the AFP report as crucial to fending off rebel factions and has been accused by rights groups of striking civilian targets.

What officials say about the airport

The government’s public statement about the attack emphasised the airport’s civilian role. AFP’s coverage relays the official description without independent verification of whether the site attacked was being used for military purposes.

Operational impact

AFP reported that the drone strikes disrupted flight schedules and prompted the protective closure. Specific flight cancellations or airline statements were not provided in the AFP piece.