(Zaman Al Wasl)- Islamic State fighters shot down a Russian helicopter on Thursday in the central province of Hama, sources said.
The Ka-52 Alligator was shot down near the strategic town of Uqayribat while the ISIS fighters were withdrawing from their last stronghold in eastern Hama area.
The three-member crew might have been killed, according to the source.
Ka-52 is a next-generation reconnaissance and combat helicopter designed to destroy tanks, armoured and non-armoured ground targets, and enemy troops and helicopters both on the front line and in tactical reserves.
On Wednesday, the regime army and allied fighters drove ISIS from their last positions east of Hama on Wednesday after heavy fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Daesh was no longer present anywhere in the province for the first time in three years, , the Britain-based monitor added.
The army, backed by ally Russia, launched a campaign against ISIS in Hama in early September, capturing some 50 villages and the town of Uqayribat, AFP reported.
The monitor said more than 400 Daesh fighters and nearly 190 Syrian soldiers and allied militiamen had been killed in the fighting.
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