Helicopter Crash Debris (Photo: KPLA)
Mizzima
More details have been provided about the downing of a junta helicopter by the Karenni defence forces already reported on by Mizzima on 6 May.
According to the Karenni People’s Liberation Army (KPLA) on 6 May at around 11:45 am the KPLA and allied forces opened fire on a junta Mi-2 light helicopter as it was taking injured junta soldiers away from fighting near Htoo Creek Bridge Camp in Hpasawng Township, Karenni State.
The helicopter was hit and crashed near to Chikweit and and Nannauk villages in Bawlakhe Township, Karenni State. Of the nine junta soldiers on board seven, including the pilot, were killed and two were injured, according to the KPLA spokesperson, Lawrence Soe.
He said: “It crashed in the village neighboring Bawlakhe. We have successfully shot down a total of three aircraft – two fighter jets and now an Mi-2 helicopter.”
The downing of the helicopter was captured in video taken by a drone. After the helicopter crashed another junta helicopter arrived at the crash scene on the same day and removed the wreckage, according to the KPLA.
The junta has not made any statements about the helicopter crash. This was the 13th helicopter that the junta has lost since the February 2021 coup.
Mizzima has been unable to independently verify casualty numbers.
Karenni revolutionary forces currently control Hpasawng town and the neighbouring Mese Town, but the junta still has two camps manned by Infantry Battalions (IB) 134 and 135 in Hpasawng Township. Fighting between joint Karenni defence forces and the junta started on 28 February 2024 and is ongoing according to the KPLA spokesperson who said they have recently intensified their offensive.
Previously, on 30 June, 2023, the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front (KNPLF) and Karenni defence forces shot down a junta’s K-8 fighter jet near Tarsanlel Village, in Ywar Thit Township, Karenni Stat
