Turkey shoots down Syrian helicopter

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç revealed that Turkish military warplanes shot down a Syrian military helicopter that crossed into Turkish airspace.

Arınç explained that the Syrian helicopter had crossed the Turkish airspace above the town of Yayladagi, near the Hatay province along the Syrian border.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that his country would provide details of the incident to the United Nations Security Council and members of NATO.

According to eyewitnesses, the helicopter landed within Syrian borders just 400 meters from Turkey’s borders. Others claimed that they saw a wounded pilot jumping from the helicopter on the border between Turkey and Syria.

Amid continued fighting, sources in the Syrian opposition say that rebel forces have killed 21 government soldiers in the town of Shabaa on the road to Damascus International Airport and have arrested 40 men from the Syrian army in the historic town of Maloula near Damascus.

Meanwhile, government forces have renewed their bombardment of the Darya region near Damascus and shelled the town of Deir Al-Asafeir, which led to casualties. In Hama, government warplanes carried out an air raid on areas in the town of Mork on the road that connects Damascus and Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that some government combat brigades withdrew from Morak after bombing it.

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