Islam Army shoots down helicopter by Osa missile system near Damascus

(Zaman Alwasl) Islam Army announced Monday that its fighters had shot down a helicopter by Osa surface-to-air missile system near Damascus.

Islam Army said in statement posted online that its fighters had downed a helicopter near Mleiha town by surface-to-air missile system in significant progress while it was dropping barrel bombs on the town.

Оsа is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system.

Two days ago, Syrian security official told news agencies that the chief of air defence forces, General Hussein Ishaq, has been killed in combat in Mleiha.

The general died on Saturday of wounds suffered when rebels attacked Syrian air defence headquarters near the town of Mleiha, a key battleground southeast of the capital.

He is one of the few top-ranking officers whose deaths have been announced during Syria's three-year war.

For more than a month, the army backed by the Lebanese Shia group, Hezbollah has been battling to recapture Mleiha, a strategic rebel bastion.

Mleiha has been under siege for more than a year, and under near-constant bombardment for more than a month.

The Observatory said that despite initial regime advances in Mleiha, the rebels have recovered ground, retaking several buildings around the central town hall.

While the army remains in control of Damascus, rebels still hold a number of towns and villages on the outskirts, despite a suffocating blockade and frequent air strikes and shelling. (With Agencies)