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Photo: http://www.russianhelicopters.aero/
A Russian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in northwestern Syria on Monday killing all five Russian servicemen on board. In an interview with Sputnik, Dr. Marcus Papadopoulos, Editor of Politics First Magazine, put the blame on an alliance of terrorist groups called the Army of Conquest and its suppliers.
“I
have no doubt about that. They have in their possession advanced
weapons. We are talking about tanks, other armored vehicles, antitank
weapons and antiaircraft missiles. The question is who has supplied them
with these antiaircraft missiles?” he continued, adding that they could
have apparently been supplied by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.”
“Therefore, they are responsible for the downing of Russia’s Mi-8 helicopter, which was on a humanitarian mission in Syria, and for the death of all five Russian servicemen on board,” Marcus Papadopoulos continued.
Dr. Papadopoulos said that the Army of Conquest formed at the beginning of 2015 and after its formation it scored a major battlefield victory when it captured Idlib city in the north of Syria and the rest of the province.
He
said that when in 2013 Daesh started to make its move in Syria there
was no condemnation from the American government. It was only toward the
end of that year when Daesh reemerged in Iraq and started posing a
direct threat to the Western-backed Iraqi government that the Americans
finally acted. Prior to that, they were only too happy to see Daesh
advancing in Syria, capturing Syrian territories and committing
atrocities.
When
asked whether these two things could be connected somehow, Dr.
Papadopoulos said that after Russia launched its antiterrorist campaign
in Syria that actually turned the table in that conflict, it is now seen
by Daesh, al-Nusra Front, the Army of Conquest and others as one
of their main enemies.
Answering a question about the terrorists disseminating video
accounts of their atrocities, Dr. Panadopoulos said that such photos and
videos must be banned and that there should be censorship.
The downing of the Mi-8 has become the deadliest episode for the Russian military since it started bombing terrorist-held territories in Syria in September 2015.
“Therefore, they are responsible for the downing of Russia’s Mi-8 helicopter, which was on a humanitarian mission in Syria, and for the death of all five Russian servicemen on board,” Marcus Papadopoulos continued.
Dr. Papadopoulos said that the Army of Conquest formed at the beginning of 2015 and after its formation it scored a major battlefield victory when it captured Idlib city in the north of Syria and the rest of the province.
“Its political and financial backers are Saudi
Arabia and Turkey and even though Ankara may now be reconsidering its
policy of supporting Islamist terrorist groups, Turkey is the major
supporter of the Army of Conquest responsible for numerous atrocities
in Aleppo with their artillery bombardment of civilians,” he noted.
When asked that whether the downing of the Russian helicopter and the
death of its crew will lead to the Army of Conquest losing its foreign
sponsors or becoming officially recognized as a terrorist group, Dr.
Papadopoulos said that “there is little chance of that happening because
the Americans are supporting numerous other Islamist terrorist groups
in Syria."
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Sputnik/ Said Tsarnaev
"So there is no chance of the US listing the Army of Contest as a terrorist group,” Dr. Papadopoulos noted.
The downing of the Russian helicopter came shortly after Daesh posted a video where it called for waging a jihad against Russia.
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REUTERS/ Ammar Abdullah
“I don’t really care what people in the West
say about censorship being not in line with Western values of democracy
and freedom of expression. There has to be a line drawn somewhere, that
pictures of atrocities, beheadings, of bodies being dragged
behind trucks should be prohibited on social media.”
“This would deprive the terrorists of a very important channel
of recruitment. We have to fight them on the battlefield and we should
also beat them on social media by banning their pages on Facebook and
preventing them from uploading their appalling photos and videos,” Dr.
Marcus Papadopoulos emphasized.The downing of the Mi-8 has become the deadliest episode for the Russian military since it started bombing terrorist-held territories in Syria in September 2015.
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