Militants capture chopper pilot, three crew in Syria

Damascus: A helicopter pilot and three crewmen were captured by Al Nusra Front militants on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Idlib.

According to the Syrian Human Rights Observatory (SOHR), the helicopter had to make an emergency landing due to a mechanical fault on Mount Zawiya.

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Helicopters are regularly used by the Syrian regime to drop barrel bombs onto villages, towns and cities around the country, the Observatory said, adding that 5,335 such explosive devices had been dropped between October 2014 and March 20.

Al Nusra Front is an Al Qaeda branch operating in Syria. They are also known as Al Qaeda in Syria. The group was formed in 2012 during the Syrian civil war.