Fact-Check: Video of Helicopter Being Shot Down in Myanmar Linked to Manipur

Manipur Police also stated that the claim was false and the clip was from Myanmar.

Fact-Check | The video is unrelated to Manipur or India.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video showing a person shooting down what appears to be a rocket is being shared on the internet as recent visuals from the ongoing violence in Manipur.

What do viral posts say?: Those sharing the video have uploaded it with a caption that said, "#Breaking, The #indian fighter helicopter shot down by freedom fighter in #Manipur."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

The post had garnered over four lakh views on the platform. Archives of similar claims can be viewed here, here, and here.

What is the truth?: The video is not related to Manipur or India. It is from Myanmar and reportedly shows Kachin Independence Army (KIA) shooting down a helicopter belonging to Myanmar's military junta.

What we found: We divided the video into multiple keyframes and ran a Google reverse image on some of them.

• We found two videos on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) stating that the footage was from Myanmar showing a Mi-24 attack helicopter of the country's Air Force by Kachin Independence Army (KIA) using Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems (MANPADS).

• A YouTube channel named 'ConflictLive' posted the same video on 6 September.

• X account @BabakTaghvaee1 also posted the same visuals on their page.

• News service Radio Free Asia published a report that a Junta helicopter had crashed following KIA attack in the northern part of the country.

• The report noted that people in the neighboring village Nam Sang Yang observed a military helicopter slowly descending upside-down, with smoke coming out.

• A Myanmar-based page named People's Spring on Facebook also posted this visual. The page is listed under the 'news/media' category.

• The page noted that the attack, which killed about 8 people, including 1 major and 2 captains of the Military Council Army, took place on 3 January. The video footage of the downing of the army's Mi-17 helicopter went viral on social media on 6 September.

Manipur police reacts: Taking to their X page, the state police posted a screenshot of the claim and said that the footage was from Myanmar and not Manipur.

Additionally, the Press Information Bureau (PIB)'s fact-check unit posted on its X page that the claim was false and the footage was not related to Manipur.

Conclusion: A video from Myanmar showing a helicopter being shot down has been falsely linked to Manipur.

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