Syrian Military Helicopter Shot Down Amid Tensions With Turkey

A Syrian military helicopter has been shot down over the last major rebel bastion in the northwest of the country, the second such incident in a week of high tensions with neighbouring Turkey. The attack on Friday in a region where Turkish troops and Russian-backed government forces have engaged in multiple clashes came as Washington urged Ankara to look to its western allies in light of Moscow’s actions.

Syrian and Russian forces have conducted a deadly offensive against the shrinking pocket in the country’s northwest since December, claiming the lives of eight civilians on Friday. “At approximately 1:40pm (local time), one of our military helicopters was hit by a hostile missile in the western countryside of Aleppo,” Syrian state news agency SANA said. “This led the helicopter to crash, killing all crew on board.”

It said the aircraft was downed near the town of Urum al-Kubra, where Turkey-backed rebels operate, but did not say who fired the missile. The Turkey-backed National Liberation Front rebel group claimed responsibility in a statement posted on the Telegram app. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the helicopter’s two pilots were killed. -Full Report