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Myanmar Fighter Jet Crashes, Rebels Claim Responsibility

FILE - Men stand over a funeral pyre in Tar Taing village, as they prepare to cremate bodies of those found dead in the nearby village of Nyaung Yin, Myinmu township and in Tar Taing village, Sagaing township, central Myanmar on March 2, 2023. (UGC via AP, File)
FILE - Men stand over a funeral pyre in Tar Taing village, as they prepare to cremate bodies of those found dead in the nearby village of Nyaung Yin, Myinmu township and in Tar Taing village, Sagaing township, central Myanmar on March 2, 2023. (UGC via AP, File)
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Myanmar Fighter Jet Crashes, Rebels Claim Responsibility

FILE - Men stand over a funeral pyre in Tar Taing village, as they prepare to cremate bodies of those found dead in the nearby village of Nyaung Yin, Myinmu township and in Tar Taing village, Sagaing township, central Myanmar on March 2, 2023. (UGC via AP, File)
FILE - Men stand over a funeral pyre in Tar Taing village, as they prepare to cremate bodies of those found dead in the nearby village of Nyaung Yin, Myinmu township and in Tar Taing village, Sagaing township, central Myanmar on March 2, 2023. (UGC via AP, File)

A Myanmar fighter jet has crashed during clashes between the military and an insurgent group, both sides said, in another setback for a junta facing the biggest challenge to its rule since a coup in 2021.
The jet went down over Kayah State in eastern Myanmar, near the border with Thailand, on Saturday during fighting between the military and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), which said it shot down the plane, Reuters said.
Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told state-run MRTV the jet crashed due to a technical problem and the pilots had ejected safely and were in contact with the military.
The incident comes as Myanmar's military battles opposition forces on multiple fronts, as ethnic minority forces and anti-junta militias mount a rebellion that security analysts say is being carried out with an unprecedented level of coordination.
The military-installed president last week said Myanmar was at risk of breaking apart due to the failure to deal with the insurgency more effectively.
Conflict in Shan State, in the northeast bordering China, has displaced at least 50,000 people, with trade routes cut off and several towns seized since an anti-junta offensive launched last month by three ethnic minority insurgent groups.
China has called for all sides to cease hostilities.
The insurgent alliance says it has seized more than 100 army posts. Assaults on towns have also taken place in Sagaing region, in central Myanmar, west of Shan State.
Hundreds of foreign workers, many of whom rights activists say are victims of human trafficking, are trapped by the fighting, including citizens of Vietnam and of Thailand.
The Thai foreign ministry said on Saturday 200 of its nationals were waiting to be evacuated "as soon as possible when the situation permits".
The KNDF said on its Facebook page it shot down the jet on Saturday using heavy machine guns and its members were searching for the pilots.
Reuters could not verify the information.
News outlet Mizzima on its Facebook page posted images of what it said were the abandoned helmet and parachute of one of the pilots.

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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye on Thursday insisted the PKK and all groups allied with it must disarm and disband "immediately", a week after a historic call by the Kurdish militant group's jailed founder.

"The PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end all terrorist activities, dissolve and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons," a Turkish defense ministry source said.

The remarks made clear the demand referred to all manifestations of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, costing tens of thousands of lives.

Although the insurgency targeted Türkiye, the PKK's leadership is based in the mountains of northern Iraq and its fighters are also part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key force in northeastern Syria.

Last week, Ocalan made a historic call urging the PKK to dissolve and his fighters to disarm, with the group on Saturday accepting his call and declaring a ceasefire.

The same day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that if the promises were not kept, Turkish forces would continue their anti-PKK operations.

"If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... or deceive... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist," he said.

- Resonance in Syria, Iraq -

Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out three major military operations in northern Syria targeting PKK militants, which it sees as a strategic threat along its southern border.

Ankara has made clear it wants to see all PKK fighters disarmed wherever they are -- notably those in the US-backed SDF, which it sees as part of the PKK.

The SDF -- the bulk of which is made up of the Kurdish YPG -- spearheaded the fight that ousted ISIS extremists from Syria in 2019, and is seen by much of the West as crucial to preventing an extremist resurgence.

Last week, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call for the PKK to lay down its weapons but said it "does not concern our forces" in northeastern Syria.

But Türkiye disagrees.

Since the toppling of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in December, Ankara has threatened military action unless YPG militants are expelled, deeming them to be a regional security problem.

"Our fundamental approach is that all terrorist organizations should disarm and be dissolved in Iraq and Syria, whether they are called the PKK, the YPG or the SDF," Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AKP, said on Monday.

Ocalan's call also affects Iraq, with the PKK leadership holed up in the mountainous north where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years.

Turkish forces have also established numerous bases there, souring Ankara's relationship with Baghdad.

"We don't want either the PKK or the Turkish army on our land... Iraq wants everyone to withdraw," Iraq's national security adviser Qassem al-Araji told AFP.

"Turkish forces are (in Iraq) because of the PKK's presence," he said, while pointing out that Türkiye had "said more than once that it has no territorial ambitions in Iraq".