|
DAMASCUS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Rebels Jaish al-Islam executed a Syrian pilot whose warplane crashed east of the capital Damascus on Friday, according to the rebel group.
Jaish al-Islam captured the pilot after his war jet crashed earlier on Friday over the town of Jairud in the Qalamoun region east of Damascus.
At first, the group posted online photos showing the young pilot alive in captivity.
Hours later, the radical group posted a photo showing the pilot laid face down, with blood trickling out of his mouth, while the back of his head was blurred in the photo, but appeared to had taken a shot in the back of his head.
The General Command of the Syrian Army said the warplane crashed over a rebel-held area as a result of a malfunction.
It confirmed the death of its pilot by the hand of Jaish al-Islam rebels.
It identified the pilot as Lieutenant Colonel Nawras Hasan, who, SANA said, parachuted over a rebel-held area after a technical fault befell his warplane.
The general command said the pilot was on a training mission when his plane malfunctioned.
"This heinous crime will not pass without a tough retaliation, as the army will continue to strike the terrorist positions across the country," said the military statement.
The rebels' Jaish al-Islam, which controls large swaths of territory in the eastern countryside of Damascus, as well as other rebel groups have downed several planes during the five-year-old crisis.
Last month, a warplane was also crashed in the central province of Hama, in what the official media reports said was a malfunction. Enditem
