A Syrian Air Force helicopter crashed near the Syrian city of Qamishli due to a technical problem. The pilot and his assistant died

Soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army (Photo: Ilya Pitalev/RIA Novosti)

A Syrian Air Force helicopter crashed near the Syrian city of Qamishli, located on the border with Turkey, Sputnik agency reports , citing a source at the local airport. According to him, the helicopter pilot and his assistant died as a result.

The helicopter crash occurred due to a technical problem, the agency’s interlocutor clarified.

Al-Qamishli is located near the border with Turkey and is considered the informal capital of the Syrian Kurds. The Kurds opposed the government of Bashar al-Assad and fought with government troops, and recently they have been actively fighting militants of the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS) banned in Russia.

Currently, south of Qamishli, the Kurds are attacking the informal capital of ISIS, the city of Raqqa, writes RIA Novosti .

In March 2016, the Syrian Kurds proclaimed a federal region in northern Syria , which was called "Rojava - northern Syria." As Nawaf Khalil, the official representative of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, previously stated, the Syrian Kurds intend to create “a model of federalization possible for all of Syria.”

The Syrian Ambassador to the UN, Bashar Jaafari, criticized the plans of the Syrian Kurds. According to him, the goal of the inter-Syrian dialogue is to preserve the unity of the country.

Media reported the crash of a military helicopter in Syria