Russian Mi-28N Attack Helicopter Crashed in Syria

nsnbc : The Russian Defense Ministry reported that one of Russia’s Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters crashed in Syria on Tuesday. The two crew members were killed in the crash. The Ministry notes that reports from the crash site indicate that the crash was an accident and that the helicopter had not been brought down by enemy fire.

MI-28 attack helicopter_Russia_SyriaThe Mi-28 attack helicopter crashed while it was flying a mission near the Syrian city of Homs. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the helicopter crashed on April 12, at 01:29 Moscow time.

The Ministry noted that rescuers had recovered the bodies of the two crew members who perished in the crash and flown them to the Khmeinim Air Base. Investigators have been deployed to the crash site to investigate why the helicopter has crashed. Initial reports, reportedly, suggest an accident, rather than that the chopper has been “brought down”.

The Mi-28 attack helicopter and its crew were reportedly from the Budyonnovsk military airbase in the Stavropol territory of Russia. Mi-28 helicopters have played important roles in Russian operations in Syria, including the dislodging of ISIL from the recently liberated town of Palmyra. The helicopter is armed with a 30-mm cannon, guided missiles as well as rockets.

Even though the Mi-28, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, had “crashed” and had not be “downed”, there are justified concerns about the possibility that military as well as civilian aircraft could be shot out of the sky by terrorist brigades, including Jabhat Al-Nusrah and ISIL.

Earlier this month a SU-22 of the Syrian Arab Air Force was shot down by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusrah, using a Surface to Air Missile. The pilot was captured by the terrorists. SAM-7 missiles from Libya were smuggled via Turkey to Syria in 2012 and distributed among “rebels” with the aid of Turkish authorities. SAM-7 missiles can also bring down civilian airliners.

In September 2012 the British journalist Sheera Frenkel reported for The Times, quoting a member of the so-called Free Syrian Army, who called himself Abu Mohammad as saying that said an arms shipment from Libya that contained over 400 ton cargo included SAM-7 surface-to air anti-aircraft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Abu Mohammad, stated that he “helped to move the shipment from warehouse to border” and that  “this is the largest single delivery of assistance” the gunmen have so far received. Other eye-witnesses have reported to nsnbc international that Turkish military officers were observed in Syria, distributing the weapons to various combat groups.

The arms shipment was transported on the Libyan vessels “The Intisaa” (Victory). The vessel berthed at the Turkish port of Iskenderun where port authorities cleared the paperwork for the ship’s captain, Omar Mousaeeb who is a Libyan from Benghazi and the head of an organization called the Libyan Council for Relief and Support. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) suffered several decisive defeats in 2013 – 2013, resulting in the takeover of weapons depots by Jabhat Al-Nusrah, other Al-Qaeda linked groups as well as by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIL / ISIS / Daesh).

Disturbingly, the SAM-7, a weapon that is easily concealed and smuggled, is fully capable of downing civilian airliners. Saudi Arabia also provided surface to air missiles to insurgents via  Jordan, Turkey, and via the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanon. In September 2013 Libya’s Foreign Minister, Mohamed Abdul-Aziz admitted, that a lot of Libyans are fighting within the ranks of the armed terrorist groups in Syria and that Libya remains a hub for weapons shipments to the insurgents. The post-coup Libyan Foreign Minister stated, that “helping our brothers in Syria is a source of pride”. 

CH/L – nsnbc 12.04.2016

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/04/12/russian-mi-28n-attack-helicopter-crashed-in-syria/

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