Closure of Mandalay Airport, Myanmar's Second-Largest City, Following Rebel Drone Attack

The military-backed government said in a statement that six "suicide" drones attacked the airport on Thursday afternoon, disrupting flight schedules with no casualties reported.

However, a security source told AFP on Friday that "Mandalay Airport is closed today and tomorrow."

The source, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, added that "the attack took place far from the airport terminal, but it was decided to close it as a precautionary measure."

A second security official working at another Myanmar airport, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Mandalay Airport, serving the country's second-largest city, will remain "closed for maintenance" until Sunday.

Myanmar's armed forces ignited a civil war after staging a coup in 2021, ending a decade-long democratic experiment by ousting Aung San Suu Kyi's government.

Years after the conflict began, the military is currently launching offensives against various rebel groups comprising pro-democracy supporters and ethnic minorities it has been fighting throughout.

Thursday's drone attack represented a rare admission of rebels launching an attack in one of Myanmar's major urban areas, which have generally remained strongholds under military control.

The government blamed the attack on pro-democracy rebel fighters who took up arms following the coup, whose main grouping is known as the "People's Defence Forces."

The government statement indicated that the attack targeted the airport, describing it as a "non-military public transport facility."

It could not be verified whether the site of the attack was of a civil or military nature, though AFP correspondents had previously spotted military aircraft flying over Mandalay Airport.

Both rebel groups and the Myanmar military are using drones in the ongoing civil war, which some monitoring bodies estimate has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people.