The Myanmar army has been in a tussle with the Arakan rebel forces since August. The fight is ongoing in the country’s Rakhine, Tanpatti and Chin states. As a result of the fight, five fighter jets of the Myanmar security forces were seen circling in the sky near Bangladesh border. Bullets, mortar shells and bombs were also fired near the border.
Against this backdrop, a video showing a burning helicopter falling from the sky is doing the rounds on social media. Many social media users are sharing the video, claiming that the helicopter belongs to Myanmar Army.
A Facebook user posted the viral video with a caption: মিয়ানমার সেনাবাহিনীর একটি হেলিকপ্টার যেভাবে ভূপাতিত হলো। (English translation: How a Myanmar Army helicopter landed)
You can find the video here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral video, and found it to be false.
Running a Reverse Image Search of the video keyframes, we found a YouTube clip, dated February 11, 2020, with a title: Syrian helicopter shot down by rebels in Idlib, published on the official channel of the British media house — The Telegraph.
The 41-second report informs us that the helicopter belongs to Syrian Air Force, contrary to what is claimed in the viral video. It was shot down by the rebels in Nayrab, eastern Idlib, with the help of ground-to-air missiles. Keyframes of the video exactly match with the viral video.
Conducting a Google Keyword Search, we found another news report, dated February 12, 2020, with a title: Rebels shoot down Syrian helicopter as fighting intensifies, published in AP News — an American non-profit news agency.
According to the news report, rebels shot down a Syrian military helicopter, killing all the crew members inside. “The violence in Idlib province came as government troops moved closer to capture the last rebel-controlled section of a strategic highway linking southern and northern Syria,” says the report.
One Arab News article, dated February 11, 2020, with a title: Turkey-backed rebels shoot down Syrian regime helicopter amid fierce clashes in Idlib, confirms that the helicopter blast, indeed, happened in the Idlib province of Syria, and has nothing to do with the recent clashes in Myanmar.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral video showing a burning helicopter has nothing to do with the ongoing tussle in Myanmar or Bangladesh. And the claims are false.
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