Syrian rebels capture 4 pilots after crash

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© Str, EPA
Islamist rebels captured at least four Syrian pilots after a crash landing of their helicopter, believed to have been used in dropping barrels packed with explosives on opposition-held areas, a monitoring group said Sunday.
The captain of the helicopter and three crew members were held following the crash on the edge of the village of Frika in the northern province of Idlib after their plane had a technical problem, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, reports dpa.
A fifth member of the crew was shot dead by the rebels while the fate of a sixth was unknown, the Britain-based watchdog said.
The captives were taken to premises of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and other Islamist groups in the area, said the observatory, which gathers information on the Syrian conflict through a network of opposition activists.
Photos, released by the Observatory, appeared to show the aircraft damaged. It did not say when the incident occurred.
Syria's state media made no mention of the incident.
The official news agency SANA said government troops carried out "specific operations" on strongholds of al-Nusra Front and other rebel groups on the rural outskirts of Idlib.
Al-Nusra and the militant Islamic State militia rule considerable swathes of northern Syria. Islamic State also controls territory in neighbouring Iraq.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has in recent years stepped up aerial attacks using barrel bombs against rebels fighting to oust him.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned the use of such improvised weapons, saying they are indiscriminate in their targeting, cause many civilian casualties and their use constitutes a war crime.            

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