{"id":18833,"date":"2024-01-04T13:13:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T07:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/ethnic-rebels-reportedly-shoot-down-burmese-military-helicopter\/"},"modified":"2024-01-04T13:13:44","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T07:43:44","slug":"ethnic-rebels-reportedly-shoot-down-burmese-military-helicopter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/ethnic-rebels-reportedly-shoot-down-burmese-military-helicopter\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethnic rebels reportedly shoot down Burmese military helicopter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kachin Independence Army fighters claimed Wednesday to have shot down a Burmese military helicopter.<\/strong><\/li>\n
The rebel group is one of several ethnic resistance forces combating Burma’s military dictatorship.<\/strong><\/li>\n
Burma has been ruled by military junta since the 2021 overthrow of democratically-elected State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Fighters from an ethnic minority group battling Burma’s military government said they shot down a helicopter believed to be on a resupply mission in a combat zone in the northern state of Kachin on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The helicopter was shot down soon after taking off from an army outpost to return to its base in Myitkyina township, the state\u2019s capital, around 11:50 a.m., Col. Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Burma’s military, which came to power in February 2021 after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, has been battling pro-democracy resistance forces loosely allied with armed ethnic minority groups seeking greater autonomy.<\/p>\n
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUSHES FOR INVESTIGATION INTO BURMESE WAR CRIMES<\/strong><\/p>\n
There was no immediate comment from the military government about the helicopter claim and The Associated Press was unable to contact any witnesses in the remote area. A spokesperson for Kachin Human Rights Watch, who asked to be identified only by his first name Jacob for fear of being arrested by the military, said the group\u2019s members in the area had confirmed to him that a helicopter had crashed there.<\/p>\n
Independent media sympathetic to the resistance movement also cited witnesses to the crash and at least two videos circulating on social media showed an object apparently on fire and trailing black smoke make a steep and uncontrolled dive into a hilly area. The falling object was not readily identifiable.<\/p>\n