The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) claims that it destroyed a Myanmar junta transport helicopter, which crash-landed following an ambush in Kachin State.
KIA troops bombed the helicopter on a football pitch near Infantry Battalion 56’s headquarters in Shwegu town, KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy.
He said it also bombed the grounded helicopter with drones.
On Tuesday, the colonel said two of three helicopters sending reinforcements and supplies to the junta’s embattled 21st Military Operation Command (MOC) headquarters in Bhamo were hit by rockets and drones while dropping supplies and airlifting troops.
A resistance video showed a helicopter’s rotors being hit as it dropped supplies from near the ground.
Another video appears to show a drone hitting helicopter rotor blades.
One helicopter crashed into a forest approximately 22km from Shwegu and another emergency landed in Shwegu. The third flew back to its base in the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina.
KIA troops reportedly found a burning wreck in the forest and an unburned body with the name tag Captain Myo Htet Aung nearby.
A KIA soldier told The Irrawaddy that they found 18 other bodies in the burned aircraft along with 14 weapons.
“There were 19 bodies in total. A captain’s body was found outside the aircraft,” he said.
The other bodies were too burned to be identified, the soldier added.
Since the 2021 coup, the KIA says it has shot down or destroyed five regime aircraft.
In May 2021, it shot down a Mi-35 combat helicopter in Momauk Township. In January last year, it downed a Mi-17 transport helicopter in Waingmaw Township and an FTC-2000 G jet fighter crashed in Kutkai Township in northern Shan State.
Fighting for Bhamo, the second city in Kachin State, began on December 4.
Despite seizing much of Bhamo by the KIA and its allies, the MOC 21 headquarters is holding out because of junta air support.
