Five Myanmar junta officers were killed and a sergeant is in a critical condition after their helicopter was shot down above Myawaddy Township near the Thai border on Monday.
The Karen National Union (KNU) said its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, and resistance allies shot down the Eurocopter 365 helicopter heading to the Light Infantry (LI) Battalion 356 headquarters in Myawaddy, Karen State.
Those killed were Brigadier General Aye Min Naung, the 44th LI Division commander, Colonel Soe Tun Lwin, LI Battalion 9’s acting commander, pilot Colonel Toe Oo and two army captains, according to military sources.
This month then-44th LI Division commander Brigadier General Win Naung Soe was appointed as military attache to Thailand after the junta-affiliated Karen State Border Guard Force abandoned the regime.
Brig-Gen Aye Min Naung was last week appointed to fill the vacancy.
The Cobra Column, which is allied to the KNU, was tipped off about the helicopter’s route by junta informants.
The KNU video shows a Browning machine gun being used to shoot down the helicopter and a Cobra Column source said machine guns, sniper rifles and other weapons were used.
On January 16, a Chinese-made FTC 2000G fighter jet was shot down by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Shan State.
On January 3, the KIA shot down a regime helicopter flying from the junta’s airbase in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital, to a base in Waingmaw Township, killing all six regime personnel on board.
In November last year, Karenni armed groups and resistance allies shot down a fighter jet in Karenni (Kayah) State and detained the pilot, Major Khaing Thant Moe, who ejected from the aircraft before it crashed.
Three junta fighter jets and five helicopters have reportedly been shot down since the 2021 coup.
The junta has not commented on any of the incidents.
