IDLIB, Syria, March 22 (UPI) -- The Nusra Front, al-Qaida's wing in Syria, and other Islamic militants captured multiple crew members from a Syrian government helicopter that made a crash landing in rebel-held Idlib province, according to a human rights observer group.
The helicopter suffered a technical failure and was forced to make an emergency landing near the village of Frika, northwest of the city of Ma'arret al-Nu'man, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Four crew members were captured and taken to nearby posts controlled by Nusra Front fighters and other Islamic rebels, SOHR reports. A fifth was executed at the site of the crash, while a sixth crew member's fate remains unknown.
Video posted to SOHR's Facebook page shows a battered helicopter turned on its side as several Arabic-speaking men, some armed with AK-47s, probe and observe the craft.
Syrian state television reportedly confirmed the crash and said a search for the crew is underway.
SOHR, which is based out of Britain, gets its information from a network of sources on the ground in Syria.
Since 2011 the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad has fought a civil war with several fragmented factions of Islamic rebels, including al-Qaida's Nusra Front and the Islamic State -- both of which have been known to execute prisoners in publicized displays.
Due to strategic and religious differences, IS and Nusra Front have grown into adversaries throughout operations in Syria, but last November the two groups teamed up to push moderate rebels out of Idlib province.
Human Rights Watch has condemned the Syrian government's liberal use of barrel bomb attacks from the air. According to SOHR, in January 504 regime airstrikes killed 127 civilians and wounded at least 500 others in a 96-hour period. In a February interview with the BBC, Assad denied that his forces used such attacks.
