Russian pilots killed in Syria by Islamic State militants

Two Russian pilots have been killed in Syria after Islamic State militants shot down their helicopter near Palymra, Russia’s defence ministry has said.

The two men were attacking a group of Islamic State fighters in the Homs region, when their military chopper ran out of ammunition, the Interfax news agency said.

“The turning helicopter was hit by militants’ gunfire from the ground and crashed in the area controlled by the Syrian government army. The crew died”, Interfax said.

According to SITE monitoring group, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

A helicopter being shot and crashing to the ground was shown on Saturday in a footage published by the Islamic State’s affiliated news agency Amaq.

Russian forces, backing the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, entered the Syrian conflict in late September last year.

Since Moscow launched its military operation, at least 12 Russian soldiers have been killed.

In November, Turkish militant planes shot down a Russian bomber on the Syrian-Turkish border, triggering a crisis in relations between the two countries.

Russia, mainly supporting the Syrian army with air strikes, is helping Assad forces against the Islamic State and other rebel groups.

Russia’s been accused by Western countries of also targeting Syria’s moderate opposition and civilians – a claim denied by Moscow.