Russia denies Daesh claim on downing helicopter
The Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh has claimed it has downed a Russian helicopter in the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria, with Moscow denying the allegation.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited media affiliated with Daesh as claiming that the copter was downed in the city’s Badiyah district on Friday.
The Russian Defense Ministry has denied losing any such aircraft.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army thwarted a Daesh attack on the village of Sawama’ to the east of Palmyra. Syria Now website said the clashes were ongoing.
Daesh captured the ruins of Palymra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the adjacent modern city in May 2015, destroying ancient monuments there, including the 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and the iconic Arch of Triumph.
The Syrian army, backed by volunteer forces and Russian air cover, wrested back control of Palmyra on March 27 following four weeks of military operations against Daesh.
The UK-based monitor also said Syrian forces had engaged the terrorists near the Shaer gas field elsewhere in the Homs Province. It said the confrontation had killed and injured some from both sides.
Daesh has, in the past, fought for control over areas surrounding the gas field and blown up several of its pumping stations.
The Syrian military, meanwhile, was reported to have set off an explosive device in the route used by armed militants in the city of Dara’a in the country’s extreme southwest, killing and injuring a number of the militants.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The United Nations (UN)’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.
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