Ahrar Al-Sham Awards Fighters for Shooting Down Russian Chopper Which Was Never Shot Down

YemenExtra

M.A.

An event took place in Idlib on Friday as the leader of Ahrar Al-Sham, Abu Ammar Al-Omar, personally congratulated two of the group’s anti-aircraft fighters on shooting down a Russian military helicopter on March 27 in a mountainous region over Latakia and downing a Syria MiG-21 jet on March 4 in Idlib.

Just hours after Ahrar Al-Sham claimed to have shot down the Russian chopper last Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry denied losing the aircraft in mention. YemenExtra later gained information from a credible military source who stated the Russian helicopter was damaged but returned safely to Khmeimim Airbase shortly after. Nevertheless, Ahrar Al-Sham stuck to its guns on the initial claim despite not providing any footage as proof.

Moreover, although a Syrian MiG-21 was indeed shot down on March 4 due to damage caused by the rebel anti-aircraft fire, the warplane crashed across the border in Hatay province while the pilot was captured hours later by Turkish authorities. According to Ahrar Al-Sham however, the Syrian jet was supposedly downed in Idlib province; this claim was soon after disproved by pictures released by the Turkish government.

Ahrar Al-Sham enjoys support from Saudi Arabia and is one of the largest rebel factions in Syria, second only to Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham. The Islamist group is considered a terrorist organization by Russia, Syria, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.