Russian helicopter shot down in Syria: opposition

A Russian military helicopter was shot down by the Army of Conquest, or Jaish al-Fatah, an armed group from the coalition of Syria's opposition who are fighting to break Assad's siege of eastern Allepo.

According to local sources in Syria, the Russian chopper was struck by a heat-seeking missile by the opposition who were battling near Tel Sultan village in Aleppo's southwest.

Sources said the crew on board were killed, but did not disclose the number of its crew when it was hit. The Army of Conquest has released an image of the Russian pilot's identity card, that they apparently found at the crash site.

Officials in Moscow confirmed the downing of Russian military helicopter. The presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all those on board the Russian helicopter Mi-8, shot down in Syria, died. Russian news agency TASS, qouting Defence Ministry's sources, reported that the three crew members and two officers from Russia's reconciliation center were on board the Mi-8, shot down with fire from the ground in Syria's Idlib province.

Syrian opposition forces had launched a fresh offensive on Sunday, July 31, with the aim of breaking the regime's brutal siege imposed on the opposition-held sector in east of Aleppo for nearly a month.

The UN estimates that nearly 300,000 civilians are still trapped with dwindling food and medical supply across 14 busy residential areas in the east of the province, controlled by the opposition. Medical professionals and relief workers are in short supply due to the fact that most hospitals and clinics have been destroyed. The battle, resumed in Aleppo's southern and northern fronts, has been backed by 2,000 opposition fighters.