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| Myanmar Mig-29 Enters Thai Airspace, Thailand Sends F-16 Fighter Jets to Myanmar Border |
BANGKOK - Thailand sent F-16 fighter jets near its border with Myanmar on Thursday (30/6/2022). This step was taken after the violation of airspace during combat operations of the Myanmar military junta.
Quoted from Reuters, Thai Air Force spokesman Marshal Prapat Sonjaidee said the Thai government had also ordered its defense attache to issue a warning to the Myanmar military government.
Two F-16 fighter jets were deployed when radar detected an aircraft in Thai airspace near the Myanmar border early Thursday.
An aircraft from an unknown side violated the border over Phop Phra district in Tak province, while attacking armed ethnic groups along the border.
A spokesman for the Myanmar junta could not immediately be reached for comment. Myanmar's military has stepped up operations against ethnic minority soldiers since last year's coup and has faced resistance on a range of fronts, from old foes to newly formed militant groups allied with the ousted government.
Activists and aid groups have condemned the junta's use of artillery and air strikes on civilian areas. This week, the United Nations Humanitarian Service estimated that nearly 760,000 people had been displaced by conflict across Myanmar since the coup.
A witness in Thailand told Reuters a fighter jet was seen in two villages about 5km from the border. The fighter jet's appearance sparked panic among residents, with one school sending its students to a bomb shelter.
The Thai Air Force said one of its attaches in Yangon had been instructed to alert the relevant agencies in Myanmar and ask them to prevent future abuses.
Thai authorities also said nearly 300 people had fled the intensification of military operations in Myanmar's Karen state in recent days.