A Kachin Independence Army (KIA)-led coalition has found the wreckage of a junta helicopter that crashed and burst into flames after being damaged by coalition gunfire on 20 May 2025.
KIA spokesman Colonel Naw Bu told MNJ that the wreckage had been found in a forested area in Shwegu Township close to Shwegu Town in Kachin State later that day, 20 May. It was still engulfed in flames when they found it so they have been unable to closely inspect inside the helicopter and make an accurate estimate of casualty numbers, though the body of a junta army captain was found near the wreckage.
The following day, 21 May, Colonel Naw Bu said: “Our troops reached the crash site last night and inspected the wreckage. The fuselage was still burning, so they couldn’t get too close. That’s why it’s still hard to confirm how many were killed. But we can say for certain that the body of a junta officer with the rank of captain was found near the wreckage.”
He explained that at around 1:00 pm on 20 May the KIA opened fire with heavy weapons on three helicopters as they were dropping off junta troop reinforcements Military Operations Command 21 (MOC-21) in Bhamo Town, Bhamo Township, Kachin State. They successfully hit two of the helicopters.
The two hit helicopters still managed to escape the scene. One made an emergency landing in nearby Shwegu Town, while the other crashed in the forest about 15 miles from Shwegu Town. The third undamaged helicopter managed to make it back to Nampawng Airbase in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital, according to Colonel Naw Bu.
The junta admitted to losing a helicopter, but claimed, in a statement, that the crash was the result of a mechanical failure. This was refuted by video footage circulating on social media that clearly shows a helicopter’s main rotor being hit and troops disembarking as smoke billows from the helicopter. (https://www.facebook.com/LuduNwayOo/videos/1460329254933517). The footage then shows the two helicopters desperately flying away.
The junta statement also said that an investigation into the crash had begun and that its soldiers were carrying out search and rescue operations in the area of the crash site. But, according to other footage circulating on social media filmed on the afternoon of 20 May, that showed resistance fighters at the site of the burning helicopter and the body of a junta soldier, the junta had not yet found the wreckage.
January 2024 was the most successful month the KIA has had when it comes to shooting down junta aircraft. That month the KIA successfully brought down a junta helicopter near Kantawyang Village, in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State and they also shot down a junta fighter jet near Namhpatkar Village in Kutkai Township, northern Shan State.
