Myanmar Junta Jet Crashes in War Zone, Killing Four Civilians

A Myanmar military jet crashed into a village in the country’s embattled Sagaing Region earlier this week, killing four civilians who had been seeking shelter from ongoing conflict, according to local officials and resistance sources.

The crash occurred on Tuesday, June 11, in Sa Par Sayt village, located in Pale Township, a hotspot of intense clashes between the junta’s armed forces and resistance groups affiliated with the opposition National Unity Government (NUG).

Local sources reported that the aircraft, operated by the military junta, plummeted into a building where residents—two men and two women—were hiding to avoid nearby fighting. All four were killed instantly as the jet smashed into the structure and exploded.

According to a village official aligned with anti-junta forces, the crash ignited a blaze, causing further damage to homes and endangering others who had been displaced by days of military air raids.

“The victims were hiding from the fighting. The jet fell directly onto the house they were in. It was a terrible sight,” a local official told media outlets anonymously for fear of reprisals.

Accounts differ sharply on what brought the aircraft down.
• Resistance groups, including the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), claimed responsibility, saying they shot the jet down using heavy machine guns during clashes near the Kan Dauk police station.
• The military junta, in contrast, issued a statement attributing the crash to a technical malfunction, asserting that the pilot had experienced engine failure and attempted an emergency landing near Min Taing Pin village.

The resistance insists this was not mechanical failure, but a military loss at the hands of a coordinated ground offensive.

Just hours after the crash, two more civilians were reportedly killed in airstrikes launched by the junta on the same village, as fighter jets returned to bomb the area. Local witnesses say these attacks appeared to be punitive and targeted despite the already devastating crash.

“The second strike happened while we were still trying to rescue people from the rubble,” one resident said. “It felt like they wanted to destroy everything.”

The crash and subsequent strikes are the latest chapters in the increasingly bloody civil war that has engulfed Myanmar since the 2021 military coup.

The Sagaing Region, in particular, has become one of the fiercest battlegrounds, with resistance forces gaining ground and the junta responding with airpower and artillery strikes.

In recent months, the military has faced a rising number of aerial losses, including downed helicopters and fighter jets, as opposition groups receive more coordinated support and firepower.

Human rights groups have condemned the junta’s escalating use of airstrikes in populated areas, which frequently result in civilian casualties. The United Nations and humanitarian watchdogs have warned that Myanmar’s military tactics may amount to war crimes, particularly when attacks target areas where civilians are sheltering.

The latest crash is expected to draw renewed attention to the junta’s air campaign and its broader implications for regional stability and human rights protections.