Syrian militants capture government airmen after helicopter crash
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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.
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