Five Reported Dead as Russian Chopper Downed in Terrorist-Held Syria

Moscow, 28 Syawwal 1437/02 August 2016  (MINA)  – A Russian military helicopter was shot down on Monday over territory controlled by a notorious terrorist group and rebels of the so-called “moderate opposition,” Russian General Sergei Rudskoi told reporters.

The Mi-8 helicopter was returning to the Khmeimim air base on Syria’s north-western coast after delivering humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo when it was shot down by fire from the ground in the north-western Idlib province, the Defence Ministry said in an earlier statement carried by the Interfax news agency.

Rudskoi identified the terrorist group as al-Nusra Front, a former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda that has recently renamed itself the Fatah al-Sham Front and ended its formal affiliation with the international jihadist network.

Earlier Russian media reports said the helicopter was shot down over territory likely held by the rebel alliance Jaish al-Fath, which controls much of Idlib province.

All five people on board apparently died in the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told state news agency TASS

“They died heroically,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “The Kremlin sends its profound condolences to the loved ones of our deceased servicemen.”

The helicopter was carrying three crew members and two officers from Russia’s centre for reconciliation in Syria, Russian media reported.

Russia has been supporting its longtime ally, the Syrian government, with an air campaign since last year.

The Russian intervention has enabled government forces to gain ground on several front lines, recapturing the desert city of Palmyra from Islamic State and imposing a siege on the rebel-held eastern sector of Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent monitoring organization, has said Russian airstrikes have killed about 5,000 rebel fighters and more than 2,700 civilians.

Another prominent rights group, Amnesty International, has accused Russia and the Syrian government of “deliberately attacking health facilities in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

Russia has denied targeting civilian facilities and maintained that its operations are aimed at United Nations-designated terrorist organizations such as Islamic State the former al-Nusra Front. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)