MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Islamists executed a Syrian serviceman and kidnapped four others after an army helicopter crashed Sunday in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"The Nusra Front and Islamic factions capture a helicopter's crew in Idlib," the watchdog said on its website.
Jihadist fighters from the anti-government al-Nusra Front – a Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda – and an unknown Islamist group kidnapped four crew members, including the chief pilot and his assistant, and brought the captives to their outposts.
One crewman was reportedly executed near the crash site, while the fate of the sixth man is unknown, according to the monitor. He is suspected to be on the run.
The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad has been battling with Islamist insurgency since 2011. The conflict escalated last summer when a violent Sunni movement, Islamic State (IS), joined in the fight against Syrian authorities, grabbing large swathes of land.
