Rebel army fighters use drones to take on ruling junta

As the drones flew over western Myanmar's Chin hills, the junta did not know what was about to hit them. Their operators were hidden a few hundred metres away in the dense forest. As the images on their screens indicated the drones were hovering above the target - a military base in the town of Lailenpi-they hit the button on their controllers and bombs began to fall.

- Aakash Hassan and Hannah Ellis-Petersen

"We had precise hits," said Noah, 20, one of the specialist drone fighters in the Chin National Army (CNA), one of the ethnic rebel groups that have been fighting Myanmar's military for almost three years. "It took them by surprise. We killed many, including the second-in-command of the base." 

After three days of fighting, the rebels hoisted their tricolour flag over the base and shouted victory slogans.

The secret to their recent victories, they say, is a new fleet of drones and an army of rebel soldiers - most of whom were once ordinary civilians who have spent over a year training to operate them. "Drones have been key to our success," said Ram Kulh Cung, the CNA's assistant general secretary. "The attacks, like those at Lailenpi, have been carried out after months of planning and training."

During a visit to Camp Victoria, the headquarters of the CNA in Chin state, they showed the Observer the fleet of thousands of commercial and agricultural drones they had imported, mostly from China but also from western countries, to hit the juntacontrolled territory in targeted attacks.