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Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, claimed on November 7 that its militants had hit a Syrian military helicopter over northern Lattakia.
“Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham anti-aircraft weapons have reportedly managed to hit a helicopter of the criminal regime over the axis of [the town of] Kabani in the northern Lattakia countryside,” a report by the terrorist group’s news network, Iba’a, reads.
Several sources confirmed that helicopters of the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) carried out a series of airstrikes on Kabani and its outskirt in the morning. However, there were no other reports confirming HTS claims.
Terrorist groups in the so-called Greater Idlib region are known for possessing several types of MANPADs, including Soviet-made 9K38 Igla and Chinese-made FN-6 missiles.
Three months ago, HTS shot down a Su-22 warplane of the SyAAF over southern Idlib using an anti-aircraft missile of an unknown type. Several unconfirmed reports suggested that Turkey is supplying Greater Idlib militants with such advanced weapons.
The only way to protect Syria from those Turkish terrorists is to implement a demilitarised security zone 50 klm inside Turkey’s borders from the Mediterranean to the Iraq borders.
Lel just try
It would be deliciously funny and ironic though for both Turkey and Syria to declare each other’s border regions as demilitarized security zones.