The Free Syrian Army rebel group claimed it had shot down a Syrian government-operated military helicopter near Damascus on Monday, and posted a video on YouTube of the machine going down in flames.
The video, the veracity of which could not be confirmed, appeared to show a Mil Mi-8 helicopter gunship catch fire, bank to starboard, and spiral dive into the ground while pouring smoke.
Al Arabiya reported the Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for shooting the helicopter down.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the crash, said helicopter gunships had been in action on Monday in support of government units against rebels in the western Damascus neighborhood of Jobar.
State-run Syrian media confirmed the helicopter had crashed but did not give details, Al Jazeera reported.
Earlier this month, Syrian rebels in the east of the country shot down a MiG-23 fighter-bomber with a heavy machine-gun, in an operation which was also posted on YouTube. The loss of that aircraft was later confirmed by the government, which said it had gone down for "technical reasons."
Since it began with anti-Assad regime demonstrations in March 2011, the Syrian conflict has escalated into a full-scale civil war that has claimed up to 20,000 lives, according to estimates by various Syrian opposition groups.
