As fighting intensified between Myanmar’s junta and rebel forces for control of a key township in western Rakhine, dramatic footage of troops storming a helicopter was spread by anti-junta Facebook pages that falsely claimed it showed a military helicopter ambushed in the restive state. However, the video shows an attack in Pinlebu in northwestern Myanmar. Local media reported that the military chopper was targeted by forces loyal to Myanmar’s opposition government.
“Footage of an MI-17 helicopter carrying terrorist troops being shot down,” Burmese news outlet “AK-Media Live” posted to its 44,000 Facebook followers on October 31.
It shared footage of a helicopter under fire at as it hovers above a grassy area. When it lands, dozens of soldiers rush aboard. Moments later, an explosion erupts next to the chopper.
“AK-Media Live” supports the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group waging war against Myanmar’s junta to carve out its own autonomous homeland.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021.
The junta’s brutal crackdown on anti-coup protesters has forced thousands of youth into the newly founded “People’s Defence Forces” and reignited fighting with ethnic armed groups.
The Facebook post claimed the video was shot in Ann in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, which has seen intense fighting as the AA steps up efforts to seize the township — the headquarters of the junta’s Western Regional Military Command.
The video was circulated by various anti-junta accounts in October, including here and here.
However, the video was in fact filmed months earlier in Pinlebu township in northwestern Myanmar — not in Ann.
Military base attack
Keywords searches on Google found similar footage of the chopper storming published by Burmese news outlet Mizzima on August 9 (archived link).
“Military helicopter attacked in Pinlebu, 7 dead and 17 wounded,” the headline read.
Pinlebu is a strategic gateway to Myanmar’s northeastern region.
According to the report, the footage was filmed on July 6 and published by Myanmar’s opposition National Unity Government — which consists mostly of lawmakers ousted in the 2021 coup.
AFP confirmed the video was filmed in Pinlebu township by comparing the aerial footage in Mizzima’s report to Google Maps imagery of the area (archived link).
A white monument visible at the start of the video shared on Facebook can be seen in news reports about skirmishes around Pinlebu in October, a few months after the chopper attack (archived link).
The monument is also visible on Google Maps, which identifies it as Monument Hill.
After months of intense fighting, Pinlebu was reportedly captured by National Unity Government forces on October 8 (archived link).
AFP has fact-checked a wave of misinformation around the unrest in Myanmar here.
