Video from Myanmar showing huge cache of weapons falsely linked to Manipur

What is the claim?

A video showing a group of men standing around a huge cache of arms and ammunition arranged on the ground is circulating on social media with the claim that the weapons were smuggled to the strife-ridden northeastern Indian state of Manipur and are now in the hands of Kuki militants. 

Sharing the video on X, a user wrote that the weapons were smuggled to Manipur and were now in the possession of “Kuki village defense volunteers.” The archived version of this post can be viewed here.

A screenshot of the viral video. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that this video is from Myanmar and unrelated to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur.

What did we find?

A reverse image search on one of the keyframes of the viral video led us to a Facebook post by the Myanmar-based media outlet ‘The Chinland Post,’ which shared the same video on December 1, 2023. While the viral video has an overlaid music track, the video uploaded by ‘The Chinland Post’ has no audio.

A comparison of visuals from the viral clip and The Chinland Post video. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot)

Logically Facts reached out to ‘The Chinland Post’ for more details on the video. This fact-check will be updated if and when we receive a response. 

Bikash K. Bhattacharya, an independent researcher and journalist focusing on Myanmar, told us that according to the caption of the ‘The Chinland Post’ Facebook post, the video is from the Kokang Self-Administered Zone in the northern Shan state of Myanmar. He also directed us to a Facebook post by ‘Khit Thit Media,’ a Burmese news organization that carried a longer version of the same video, and added, “The Chinland Post has sourced the video from Khit Thit Media.” “The video is probably of a cache of arms taken over by rebels in the Konkyan township from a Burmese army battalion as part of its Operation 1027,”  he said.

‘Khit Thit Media’ had posted the longer version of the video on its Facebook page on December 1, 2023. The viral clip starts around the 0:49 mark of this Facebook video.

A comparison of the screenshots from the viral clip and Khit Thit Media video. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot)

Logically Facts also contacted Salai Van Bawi Mang, a Chin ethnic researcher from Chin State in Myanmar to understand the text shared by ‘Khit Thit Media’ with the video. Mang said, “I checked the video and it is from an incident that occurred in the northern Shan state last month.” He added, “The text in their (Khit Thit Media’s) caption says that the entire Light Infantry Battalion 125 of the junta surrendered to the resistance forces in the Konkyan township of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, which is located along the border with China in the northern Shan state.” 

Based on these inputs by Mang and Bhattacharya, we found that on November 28, 2023, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) had reportedly seized the Konkyan township in the north of Kokang Self-Administered Zone and grabbed hold of a huge cache of weapons from the junta troops. The attack was part of MNDAA’s ‘Operation 1027,’ launched across different regions in Myanmar including the northern Shan State in October 2023. 

A report titled “Ethnic Army Battles to Seize Another Base From Myanmar Junta Near Border With China” by The Irrawaddy— a news outlet that covers Myanmar and SouthEast Asia— published on December 5, 2023, features an image with structures in the background that match closely with the ones seen in the viral clip. The caption of the photo, credited to a local Burmese news outlet ‘The Kokang,’ read, “MNDAA troops pose along with a haul of junta weapons and ammunition after seizing a major junta base in Konkyan Township last week.”

A comparison of the viral clip and a photo featured in The Irrawaddy shows visual similarities. (Source: X/ The Irrawaddy/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

On December 2, The Irrawaddy also posted a video on X, originally shared by ‘The Kokang,’ showing the seized weapons by the MNDAA. “The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army seized a large haul of weapons and ammunition after seizing Konkyan Township of northern Shan State on Nov. 28, a video taken by army shows,” it stated. A visual comparison of the video with the viral clip confirms that both show the same location.

A comparison of the viral video and with the visuals shared by shared by The Irrawaddy. (Source: X/ The Irrawaddy/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Civil war in Myanmar 

Myanmar has increasingly been witnessing deadly battles between the military regime and several resistance groups that have emerged in the country after the 2021 coup. Since the last week of October 2023, a coordinated armed resistance movement ‘Operation 1027’ led by ‘The Three Brotherhood Alliance’ has gained considerable ground, posing a threat to the military government. 

Conflict in Manipur

The civil war in Myanmar has raised concerns in the bordering northeastern states of India. Since the coup, thousands of refugees from the neighboring county have fled across the border to states like Mizoram and Manipur. It has also contributed to various disinformation campaigns related to the ongoing conflict between the Meities and the Kuki tribes in Manipur.

The state has been on the boil since early May last year and witnessed another flare-up when fresh rounds of violence were reported, first from the Thoubal district and later from the Tengnoupal district, in the first week of the new year. Five people have died in the recent violence, with the overall death toll estimated at more than 200 so far.

Logically Facts has debunked visuals from Myanmar conflict often falsely attributed to Manipur.

The verdict

The viral clip shows a cache of weapons seized by armed resistance groups in the Konkyan township of northern Shan state in Myanmar and is not related to the ongoing conflict in Manipur. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.