Myanmar Military Plane Overshoots Runway In India

At least eight people were injured after a Myanmar military aircraft that was supposed to fly back dozens of soldiers fleeing conflict at home overshot the runway of an airport in northeastern India, officials said.

The injured were among 14 people on board the aircraft that was heading to Mizoram state’s Lengpui Airport to take home the soldiers who had entered India last week, Indian police and military officials said.

Footage from local media showed the plane’s cracked fuselage resting in a bushy area near the airport.

Report says nearly 700 Myanmar soldiers have crossed into northeast India in the past two months after anti-junta groups in Myanmar, backed by a pro-democracy parallel government, seized control of several military posts and towns near its borders.

Indian authorities have been sending back the troops within days of them crossing over.

An Indian military source said 276 Myanmar troops entered India last week after intense fighting close to the border, out of which 184 returned home on Monday.

Since a coup in Myanmar in 2021, hundreds of civilians and troops have fled to Indian states where communities between the two countries share ethnic and familial ties.

This has worried New Delhi because of the risks of tensions spreading to India.

Visiting India’s northeastern region on Saturday, Home Minister Amit Shah said the government would fence the entire 1,600 (1,000 miles) long border with Myanmar. India is also considering ending the free movement of people between the two countries, he said.

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere