Syrian rebels kill five Russians in attack on helicopter

Five Russian soldiers were confirmed dead on Monday after their helicopter was shot down over the Syrian province of Idlib, as rebel groups continue to advance against Syrian government forces in the city of Aleppo.

The Russian defence ministry said that an Mi-8 transport helicopter was “shot down from the ground after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo”.

"As far as we know from the information we've had from the defence ministry, those in the helicopter died, they died heroically, because they were trying to move the aircraft away to minimise victims on the ground," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The Kremlin has also confirmed that four men and one woman were killed. 

Unconfirmed images have been published on social media of the ID cards of the dead.

No group has formally claimed the attack but numerous social media accounts suggest the Nusra Front, which recently rebranded itself as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, shot the helicopter down. 

The Russian claims the helicopter was on a humanitarian mission were disputed, with pictures published on social media showing it was armed with rocket pods.

It was also suggested that the helicopter was a ground assault variant of the Mi-8, although that variant is still capable of transport missions.

The attack comes as rebel groups in Aleppo advanced against forces backed by the Syrian government.

Hundreds of Syrians are reported to have taken to the streets in protest against the siege and air strikes. 

Campaign to take months

Various rebel groups have said that the latest advance has been in the planning for a long period and have said to expect the military campaign to last a number of weeks and months. 

Rebel groups have told Al-Jazeera that the latest offensive to break the siege of the city would aim to take control of al-Hikah school, which has been used by the Syrian army as a base. 

They will also attempt to take control of key security checkpoints bordering government-controlled western Aleppo. 

Heavy clashes since Sunday left dozens dead on both sides, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said, without giving a specific toll.

It said the rebels had advanced overnight south and southwest of Aleppo but reported ongoing fighting, as well as government air strikes on the battlefield and rebel-held eastern neighbourhoods.

Meanwhile, shells fired by Syrian rebel groups killed at least 28 civilians in southwestern districts of the battleground city of Aleppo over the last 24 hours, a monitor said late Monday.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said those killed "included six children and eight women" in two government-controlled neighbourhoods of divided Aleppo.

He said dozens of people were also wounded.

Aleppans burn tyres

Images are also being published on social media of civilians burning tyres in a bid to create a smoke cloud to block Syrian fighter jets from bombing parts of the city. 

This latest offensive comes in the wake of the Syrian government offering an amnesty to rebel groups and creating a humanitarian corridor for civilians to leave the eastern part of the city, which has been controlled by rebel groups. 

Rebel group Ahrar al-Sham hit back at the Syrian governments proposal to offer an amnesty to rebels by describing it as "ludicrious".