explosion and gunfire across myanmar, the military is carrying out air strikes. on the ground, they are struggling to crush the resistance, so they've taken this fight against their own people to the air. the military is increasingly isolated by western sanctions, but it's russia that's providing them with deadly air power.

explosion and gunfire air strikes are now a daily occurrence for the people of myanmar. more than 200 attacks have been reported since january. monasteries, hospitals, churches and schools have been hit. seven of his friends were killed. soldiers took their bodies away and burned them. the deadliest attack in april killed more than 170 people.

captain zay thu aung was a pilot in the myanmar air force for 18 years. everything changed for him when general min aung hlaing seized power in february 2021, ousting the elected government.

it sparked a mass uprising, demanding democracy be restored. the military responded with a violent crackdown. captain aung knew he couldn't stay, and started planning to defect.

do you feel ashamed that you were once one of them? thit naong naong took part in the protests. his tattoo of the face of elected leader aung san suu kyi became one of the lasting images of the uprising.

before the coup, he was a gym instructor. now he's a resistance fighter. his unit is part of a civilian militia network, called the people's defence forces. gunfire

they're being backed by ethnic armed groups, who have trained the young protesters, and they're proving to be a stronger force than many expected. in october, thit noang noang's group seized a military base, capturing three soldiers. shouting and scenes like this have been repeated across myanmar. these unexpected gains have pushed the military into the air.

what would the myanmar military�*s strength be like, without the air force? the myanmar military is increasingly relying on its air power, because the resistance forces on the ground have been effective in pushing them out of this territory, and on their ends, the myanmar military has been unable to control territory in a consistent manner. myanmar witness is tracking the aircrafts the military are using. the russian presence has become more important. the military�*s actions have been condemned by most nations, but russia — who has long had

ties with the military — has stepped up to become their strongest foreign backer. russian representatives have made very clear that, despite the war of 2021, they will continue to provide the myanmar military with air force assets. with russia's help, the military is upgrading its air force, with these fighter jets. the sukhoi 30 is an advanced fighterjet that has both air to air and air to ground capabilities in the version exported to myanmar. it has an even greater capacity to carry weapons, up to 8,000kg, and, as of this moment, represents the most advanced aircraft in the arsenal of the myanmar military.

captain aung knows these jets well. before defecting, he helped prepare for their arrival. so far, two have been delivered.

he shares his vital intelligence about the aircraft with groups trying to bring them down. are you ever troubled by the fact that you're giving information to groups that are fighting against your former colleagues, yourformerfriends?

but information that you are giving may lead to the killing of your former colleagues. in the air, this is how the resistance is fighting back. 25—year—old khin sein leads a group of female drone bombers. they adapt civilian drones to carry home—made bombs. the resistance relies on public donations.

she was a university student when the coup happened. chanting the military crackdown pushed her to take up arms, and it's scenes like this that keep her in the fight. this village near their camp was destroyed by soldiers.

she heads off with her unit to carry out another attack. things didn't go to plan. the bomb exploded in their hands. thit naong nao�*s group is gaining ground. he frequently comes in contact with the military.

but his guns are no match for the junta's airpower. gunfire.

across the border in thailand, the impact of the air strikes on the rebel soldiers is clear. these injured fighters are here illegally, so we are not showing their faces. this 22—year—old is now paralysed from the waist down. what kind of planes were they, could you see them clearly?

his mum crossed the border to look after him. and how did your mum react when you said you were injured? and will you keep fighting? this history student lost an eye. he plans to go back to fight with drones.

that night, we head to a safe house, a place the resistance is sheltering their former enemy, newly defected soldiers from the myanmar military, who refused to fight their own people. the youngest amongst them joined the military when he was just 15. did you hear how people hated you, hated the military? did you hear what they were calling soldiers?

but, right now, soldiers, young men like you, are raping women, burning villages, killing civilians. is the military finding it hard now to recruit new soldiers? it took captain aung a year to defect and flee

across the border to thailand. his life now is a world away from his career in the airforce. he can't formally work or send his son to school here in thailand, but counts himself lucky to be out.

despite her injury, she is fighting on. she hasn't seen herfamily in over two years.

singing.

hello there. the first week of september is looking a lot more summery than what we had throughout most ofjuly and indeed august. this weekend, high pressure is building in. it will turn drier and sunnier and warmer across the board. however, there will be a fly in the ointment that comes with this area of low pressure in its weather from which will push close to the north—west of scotland at times, certainly on sunday. but high pressure is building in — it's killing off the showers, the clouds. early on saturday we should see any rain fizzling out, but there will be a legacy of clouds and mist and fog, particularly across central southern england, wales, northern ireland. here it's going to be mild, but again, the north—east corner of scotland will be

quite chilly with temperatures in low single digits. so we start off, plenty of sunshine in the north. further south, mist and fog through the morning which will tend to lift and burn. into the afternoon, could see the odd isolated shower developing, but most places will stay dry and it'll feel a lot warmer for most — low to mid 20s across the board. as we head through saturday night again we'll see the mist and fog develop pretty much anywhere but especially across parts of england and wales. gradually, this weather front will start to push into the north—west of scotland to bring stronger winds, outbreaks of rain. a much milder night to come across north—east scotland, 13 degrees for aberdeen. and elsewhere, temperatures will be in double figures. sunday high pressure still with us, but this weather front will be influencing the weather across north—west scotland. so for the highlands and islands, it'll be quite cloudy, breezy with outbreaks of rain here. but southern and eastern scotland, northern ireland, england and wales, once any early mist and fog clears away, then it'll be a lovely, sunny, dry day. light winds for most quite gusty, though, for the north—west of scotland.

temperature wise, for the highlands and islands, 15 to 17 degrees. but the rest of scotland, northern ireland, england and wales, it's the low to mid 20s. as we head into monday we hold on to this wetter, cloudier, breezier weather across north—west scotland. but the rest of scotland, northern ireland, england and wales again, once any morning mist and fog clears away, it'll be dry, sunny and very warm with temperatures ranging from 22 to 26 celsius. much warmer there for eastern scotland, too. and we hold on to those temperatures mid to maybe high 20s for england and wales. could see close to 30 degrees in one or two spots, otherwise they'll be turning more unsettled by the end of the week.

live from london, this is bbc news. the death is announced of mohamed al fayed, the former owner of harrods whose son was killed alongside princess diana in a car crash in paris. typhoon saola has made landfall in southern china, having given hong kong a glancing blow. tens of millions are sheltering indoors. concern over the presence of lightweight concrete in schools and hospitals widens. labour calls for urgent checks in all public buildings in england.

and shooting for the stars. india is set to launch its first observation mission to the sun in about an hour's time. hello. the billionaire businessman, mohamed al fayed, who went from selling soft drinks in egypt to owning harrods and the paris ritz, has died at the age of 94. his eldest son, dodi, was killed alongside princess diana in a car crash in paris 26 years ago. an inquiry into mr al fayed's business dealings led successive governments to refuse him british citizenship. daniela relph looks back now at al fayed's life. mohammed al fayed, once the proud owner of harrods, the world's most famous department store, who yearned to be part of the british establishment. born in egypt, he married

the sister of billionaire arms dealer adnan khashoggi and built a business empire.