The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Syrian militants capture government airmen after helicopter crash

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10, 2013 PHOTO
RAPHAEL SATTER/APSyrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdurrahman said opposition fighters had taken four of the helicopter crew members prisoner.

BEIRUT — Syrian insurgents captured several government airmen after their helicopter crashed in a rebel-held area of northwestern Syria on Sunday, activists said.

The Idlib Media Center and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the helicopter went down near Jabal al-Zawiya, some 6 miles north of the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib province.

The aircraft experienced a technical malfunction and made an emergency crash-landing, according to the Observatory.

Syria’s state news agency confirmed that a helicopter had crashed in Idlib after a mechanical problem and said the authorities were looking for the crew.

Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman said opposition fighters, including from the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, had taken four crew members prisoner. Another airman survived the crash but was reportedly killed by his captors, and the fate of a suspected sixth airman is unknown, Abdurrahman said.

 

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/syrian-militants-capture-helicopter-crew-crash-article-1.2159127