Myanmar has been consumed by civil war since the military ousted a democratic government in 2021. More than three million people are currently displaced, according to United Nations figures.

Anti-coup guerrillas claimed they downed the jet on Tuesday after four days of intense combat in central Sagaing region, while Myanmar’s junta said it crashed because of “sudden engine failure”.

Zaw Htet, a local administrator from the rebel-held area, said there were four fatalities as the jet destroyed five buildings on impact in the village of Sa Par Sayt.

“They were killed in their houses. Three of them were IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) who came to stay at the village,” said Zaw Htet.

Analysis of social media images of the crash site by the Britain-based Centre for Information Resilience’s Myanmar Witness project identified the jet as a Chinese-manufactured single-seat Chengdu F-7.

EurAsian Times had earlier erroneously recognized it as JF-17 Thunder.

The Chengdu J-7, a Chinese-built variant of the Soviet MiG-21, has been a mainstay of the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since the 1990s. Known by its export designation F-7, this single-engine, lightweight fighter jet was designed for short-range air-to-air combat and ground attack missions.

Despite its obsolescence, the F-7 remains in service in Myanmar, reflecting the Myanmar Air Force’s (MAF) reliance on aging platforms amid ongoing civil conflict.

Myanmar’s military has suffered stinging territorial losses in recent months, but analysts say its air force, backed by China and Russia, has been key to fending off its myriad opponents.

The military and some of its adversaries have pledged a truce this month as the country continues to recover from March’s devastating magnitude-7.7 earthquake, which killed nearly 3,800 people.

But the People’s Liberation Army — a communist group which took up arms after the coup — said it downed the jet 130 kilometres (80 miles) west of Mandalay city, the area worst-hit by the tremor.

The junta information team said the jet had been on a training flight when it was stricken by a technical malfunction.