Photo: Air force officer involved in the shooting down of a helicopter
Mizzima
A Kachin Independence Army (KIA) frontline source told Mizzima that all seven junta soldiers aboard a Mi-17 helicopter, including a pilot, which was downed by the KIA in Waingmaw Township, Myitkyina District, Kachin State, are confirmed dead.
The incident occurred around 11:50 am on 3 January with the KIA soldiers successfully shooting down the junta’s Mi-17 helicopter. As per a Kachin source, the helicopter burst into flames following the attack. Video, shared on social media, appears to show the helicopter plummeting to earth in flames.
The helicopter appeared to be delivering supplies to a junta military column approaching a former KIA position following the KIA’s seizure of the Kandungyan military base located on the Myitkyina to Bhamo highway. The KIA frontline troops shot the helicopter down while it was transporting weapons and food rations for the column, according to the KIA information team.
On the same day as the incident, images depicting deceased junta soldiers began circulating on social media during the night. The lifeless body of the pilot, identified as a captain, has been located, and confirmation of the deaths of the remaining crew members came from KIA sources engaged in ground clearance operations.
Though reports suggested that a junta major was captured alive from the helicopter, Mizzima has not been able to independently verify this information.
Colonel Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, informed Mizzima around 7:00 p.m. on 3 January that the shooting down of the helicopter had been confirmed, although specific details about the subsequent events were still unclear.
Colonel Naw Bu added that after the helicopter crash, a junta jet fighter conducted airstrikes in the surrounding area in the afternoon, at around 6:00 p.m. The destruction caused by the attack is not yet known.
The Military Council has yet to issue a report on the incident.
