3rd May, 2021 #day92

The KIA shot down a military council attack helicopter in Kachin State’s Momauk Township, around 10 am today, according to Kachinwaves. Reports said the downed helicopter was a USD 35 million Russian-made Mi-35P and the junta currently owns about 10 of the same type. This is the first time a helicopter gunship was shot down since the coup. The KIA did not comment on what type of weaponry were used, but there are evidences that some ethnic armed groups reportedly own a Chinese-made shoulder-launched FN 6 air defense missile. If the KIA could use such advanced weapons on the battlefield, it would be a game changer in the current civil war, netizens commended on social media. The military council is relying heavily on airstrikes in Kachin and Karen frontlines. Three civilians were killed by the junta’s heavy artillery shelling on nearby villages after the chopper was downed. According to the Irrawaddy, KIA troops attacked a police station in Mansi Township, at around 8 pm tonight.

According to Myanmar Now, about 80 air force officers and soldiers refused to report to their bases since the coup. The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force declared them defectors. Another shooting took place between the Chinland Defense Force (Hakha) and the junta troops at the security checkpoint in Cawbuk quarter of Hakha, according to the CDF's social media page. No casualties were reported as of writing. The Kalay Region Defence Association (K.R.D.A) wrote on its social media page that they ambushed about six military trucks heading to Hakha at around 5 pm and the military troops withdrew back to Kalay at around 7:30 pm. Three men stabbed the ward chairman to death at his ward administrative office in Yangon’s Thaketa Township. According to Khit Thit Media, the chairman was notorious in the community for his bad behaviour and reporting to the military. 

The NUG expanded its cabinet to include the Ministry of Human Rights and the Ministry of Labour and added two new Union Ministers and four Deputy Ministers. This is the first time that the Ministry of Human Rights has been formed, and appointment of a LGBT Aung Myo Min at the ministerial level. He is a well-known human rights defender and a former member of student armed group ABSDF in 1990s. The appointment has been welcomed by many netizens and rights groups. Khit Thit Media reported that the junta has arrested the CDM nurses, doctors and radiologist from the Mandalay TB Hospital and charged under Section 505 (a). They were taken from staff quarters this morning, according to the Nursing University Students' Union. The NUG blacklisted 27 departmental staff members working under the junta for threatening and intimidating CDM civil servants.

Nearly two months later, MPT mobile users have access to mobile internet. Khit Thit Media reported that five people – three CDM policemen, a civilian, and NLD MP Thet Win Hlaing were killed in a parcel bomb explosion this evening. A bomb was sent to their hideout in Kambila village, Pyay Township, Bago Region. Pope Francis urged Catholics to pray for peace in Myanmar everyday this month, Mizzima reported. Sixteen countries and the European Union issued statement calling for freedom of the press and the unconditional release of journalists.