Did Myanmar rebels down a Pak-supplied JF-17 fighter jet? Suspicions rise after warplane crash in Sagaing

A military fighter jet went down in flames on Tuesday in Myanmar’s conflict-ridden Sagaing region, triggering a flurry of speculation about whether it was brought down by rebel fire or succumbed to technical failure.

While Myanmar’s state-run media attributed the crash to mechanical issues, a resistance group has claimed it shot the aircraft out of the sky, reports AP.

The incident occurred around midday in Pale township, about 140 kilometers west of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city. Myanmar’s military-owned broadcaster MRTV confirmed the crash but provided few details, declining to identify the type of jet involved or reveal the status of the crew. It said that a search and recovery operation was underway.

Local media, however, circulated disturbing images of wreckage, including what appeared to be body parts, and identified the aircraft as a Chinese-built FTC-2000G, a light fighter and ground-attack aircraft.

But unconfirmed reports have since emerged suggesting the jet may have been a JF-17 Thunder — a multirole combat aircraft co-developed by China and Pakistan, and reportedly supplied to Myanmar’s military by Islamabad in recent years. If verified, it would mark the first known combat loss of a JF-17 in Myanmar’s civil war and could fuel further questions about the jet’s performance and survivability in high-conflict zones.