Myanmar Military Aircraft Skids in Mizoram as India Repatriates Soldiers Amid Rebel Clashes

In Mizoram's Lengpui Airport, a Myanmar military aircraft encountered a challenging landing, skidding off the runway during a mission to airlift soldiers seeking refuge in India after clashes with rebel groups in Myanmar. The Shaanxi Y-8 aircraft's fuselage split in half during the incident on the notorious tabletop runway.

India, in response to the situation, facilitated the return of 184 Myanmarese soldiers on Monday, as confirmed by an official statement from the Assam Rifles. The soldiers, part of a group of 276 who entered Mizoram last week, sought assistance after their camp was overrun by the 'Arakan Army,' a Myanmarese insurgent group. The remaining 92 soldiers are scheduled for repatriation today.

The soldiers were initially taken to the Assam Rifles camp at Parva and later relocated to Lunglei for supervision. The repatriation process involved transporting the group on Myanmar Air Force planes from Lengpui airport near Aizawl to Sittwe in Myanmar's Rakhine State. The entire group, led by a colonel and consisting of 36 officers and 240 lower-rank personnel, will be repatriated, concluding a complex operation amid regional tensions.