Chinese-Supplied Jet Linked to Junta’s Deadly Church Bombing

Myanmar’s junta forces used a Chinese-supplied Q-5 fighter jet in a bombing raid this month that hit a church, school and homes, and was reported to have killed at least 17 people including women, children and the elderly, according to details of a new investigation made available to Newsweek.

The report from Myanmar Witness, which monitors human rights in the Southeast Asian country, contradicts announcements by the military junta’s official media that there was no such attack on Kanan village on January 7.

Myanmar’s Information Ministry did not answer calls seeking comment, and the official government portal did not respond to messages.

Although Chinese Q-5 jets have been in service in the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since the 1990s, the ground attack aircraft have been kept in the air by spare parts shipped from China since the army seized power in a 2021 coup, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations.

Both China and Russia have continued to send military supplies to the junta even as it has come under toughened Western sanctions since the overthrow and incarceration of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Myanmar Witness has observed that the Q-5 has been employed with increased frequency by the MAF,” the group said.

China’s embassy in Myanmar did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Tens of thousands of people, thousands of civilians among them, have been killed in the three years since the coup on February 1, 2021, according to the database of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

The U.N. says more than 2.3 million people have been displaced by the fighting between the junta’s forces and longstanding ethnic militias, as well as new insurgent groups that sprang up after the coup—among them the People’s Defense Forces that fight for an underground National Unity Government.

Bombing raids by the junta’s air force have escalated as increasing swaths of Myanmar have become no-go zones for its ground forces, which suffered a series of setbacks late last year.

Church and School Hit

Independent local media reported that a school, church and homes were bombed at Kanan in Tamu township, which is in Myanmar’s northwestern Sagaing region at around 10.30 a.m. on January 7. The reports were denounced at the time as “fake news” by the state-run news outlet MRTV.

Myanmar Witness used open-source images of the death and destruction as well as high-resolution satellite pictures to establish that there did appear to be a bombing raid at the time. The NGO identified and geolocated footage showing extensive damage to the St. Peter Baptist Church and the Basic Education High School.

“Myanmar Witness identified footage showing bloodstains inside the church and school, suggesting that people were injured or killed at these locations,” said the report from the group, which is implemented via the Western-government funded Centre for Information Resilience. “Myanmar Witness’ resident arms expert assesses that the damage visible is consistent with that of an airstrike.”

It was able to identify at least 12 individuals from images of the dead. Local media listed 17 people killed. Nine of them were under 18 and three were over 60 years old.

Although it did not find an image showing a plane dropping bombs, Myanmar Witness identified and geolocated footage of a Q-5 jet above Kanan moments before the sound of an explosion. Using data from Telegram channels, it established that the same type of military plane—also known by its NATO reporting name Fantan—had taken off from the Tada-U airbase around 30 minutes earlier and headed in the direction of the attack.

“The MAF is the only known actor with access to Q-5 ground attack jets,” Myanmar Witness said. “Myanmar Witness will continue to monitor the use of airstrikes throughout Myanmar and attempt to hold the MAF accountable through open-source investigations.”

According to a report last year from the U.N. rights office, Myanmar’s military has imported at least $1 billion worth of arms, dual use goods, and equipment and materials for its own defense industry since the coup. It said that this included over $267 million worth from China—with Russia as the biggest supplier at $406 million.

“Since the coup, numerous private and state-owned companies registered in China, including Hong Kong, have supplied the Myanmar military with an extensive array of arms, equipment, and raw materials,” the report said.

Despite China’s continuing relationship with the Western-shunned junta, Beijing appears to be growing increasingly uneasy as insurgent groups have beaten back junta forces in fighting in recent months, with some shells crossing the border into southern China.

China brokered talks between the army and the so-called Three Brotherhood Alliance that led to a ceasefire in the border region in mid-January, but fighting continues across much of the country of 54 million people. China’s foreign ministry said at the time that it hoped Myanmar’s warring parties could exercise maximum restraint and solve their differences through dialogue and consultations.