The Syrian Army has stated that two servicemen died and two more were injured as a result of a military helicopter's crash landing in the east of Latakia Province.
The military said that the helicopter experienced a technical malfunction as it was flying along the coastline conducting a training mission. It then had to make an emergency landing in a mountainous area.
Earlier, a source in the Syrian armed forces, said that the crash landing of the helicopter resulted in injuries to two Syrian servicemen.
Last month, the Russian Defence Ministry issued warnings that terrorist groups holed up in Idlib Province were planning attacks against the ports of Tartus and Latakia, where Russian forces have based their operations in support of the Syrian government. They were invited by Damascus in 2015 to help its army to defeat the terrorist groups that had occupied some of the country's territory, including Daesh*.
Since then, these groups have been driven out of most of the country, with Damascus restoring control over its provinces - with the exeption of Idlib, and several territories in the east that are controlled by the Kurdish militia, Syrian Democratic Forces.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia