Myanmar military plane slips off runway at Mizoram airport

In Mizoram’s Aizawl, a Myanmar military aircraft encountered difficulties while attempting to land at Lengpui Airport during a mission to evacuate Myanmar army personnel seeking refuge in the northeastern state. The challenging nature of the tabletop runway at Lengpui contributed to the aircraft skidding off the runway during the landing.

| Updated: 23 January, 2024 2:15 pm IST

NEW DELHI: In Mizoram’s Aizawl, a Myanmar military aircraft encountered difficulties while attempting to land at Lengpui Airport during a mission to evacuate Myanmar army personnel seeking refuge in the northeastern state. The challenging nature of the tabletop runway at Lengpui contributed to the aircraft skidding off the runway during the landing. At least eight on board were injured in the incident.

This incident unfolded as part of a larger context involving the entry of Myanmarese soldiers into Mizoram. Last week, a total of 276 Myanmarese soldiers sought refuge in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district after intense clashes with the ‘Arakan Army,’ a Myanmarese insurgent group advocating for an independent Rakhine State. The soldiers, whose camp had been overrun by the rebel group, approached the Assam Rifles for assistance.

In response, India undertook the repatriation of these soldiers, sending back 184 of them to Myanmar on Monday. The Assam Rifles, in an official statement, confirmed that the soldiers, led by a colonel and comprising 36 officers and 240 lower-rank personnel, had entered Mizoram and sought refuge in Bandukbanga village near the India-Myanmar-Bangladesh trijunction on January 17.

After seeking assistance from the Assam Rifles, the soldiers were initially taken to the Assam Rifles camp at Parva and later relocated to Lunglei for supervision. The repatriation process commenced with the group being flown on Myanmar Air Force planes from Lengpui Airport near Aizawl to Sittwe in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

As of now, 92 soldiers remain to be repatriated on Tuesday, completing the return of the entire group.

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