Horrific footage shows Syrian helicopter pilot who was 'shot down by Turkish forces and then beheaded by rebels'

Footage apparently shows helicopter pilot shot down by Turkish forces

Body can be seen with head removed and surrounded by a group of men

Videos also show 'rebels shooting at pilot' as he parachutes from craft

Turkey confirmed yesterday it did shoot down Syrian helicopter



A Syrian helicopter pilot who was shot down by the Turkish military was beheaded by rebels, it was claimed today.

Horrific footage which purports to show a man's headless corpse dressed in military-style helicopter flight suit and dumped in a ditch has been circulating online since last night, just a few hours after the aircraft crashed.

The film also zooms in on a bloody head lying a few yards from the corpse.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT



Shocking footage apparently shows a Syrian helicopter pilot beheaded by rebels after he was shot down by Turkish forces

It is believed that the man's head was probably removed after his death

The videos are the latest in a series of disturbing images to have emerged from the Syrian crisis which show the brutality from both sides.

Last week, MailOnline reported on a public execution that took place on August 31 in the town of Keferghan in the north of the country.



The whole barbaric episode is watched by a crowd of jeering men, many of them armed.



Sitting on a low wall only a few feet from where the wretched captive died so violently is a line of young boys.



They were still there as the dead man’s head was dumped on his body. Another child, even younger, was led by the hand past the corpse.



The picture forms part of a set taken by a photojournalist - whose identity has not been revealed in order to protect him - who was given unprecedented access to the gruesome proceedings.

Amateur video footage, said to have been taken in Lattakia, in Syria, apparently shows the helicopter falling from the sky and exploding when it hits the ground

The helicopter can apparently be seen falling from the sky in a ball of flames after it was shot down

Among the other photos are an executioner lining up his sword before delivering the final blow as his victim kneels in the village square - and a victim's head being held aloft by a jubilant fighter.



Although it is difficult to confirm the political affiliation of those involved, an eyewitness told Time that the executioners belonged to ISIS - an Al-Qaeda faction opposed to President Bashar Assad's regime.



The captives, meanwhile, are understood to belong to the fearsome Shabiha ('ghosts') - thugs loyal to Assad who are said to roam the country massacring women and children.

Human Rights Watch yesterday, meanwhile, released details of a massacre, possibly one of the deadliest since the start of the conflict in Syria.



The organisation claimed Syrian forces brutally slaughtered 248 people in the coastal towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas in May.



The chilling accounts are detailed in the 68-page report, 'No One’s Left’: Summary Executions by Syrian Forces in al-Bayda and Baniyas' and are based on interviews with 15 al-Bayda residents and 5 from Baniyas.



Syria's army acknowledged the helicopter had strayed into Turkish airspace for a short time while monitoring 'terrorists' moving across the border into Syria And in May a video that appeared to show a Syrian rebel cutting out and eating the heart of a dead government soldier was posted online in an horrific propaganda stunt.

Turkey has confirmed it shot down a Syrian helicopter yesterday after it crossed into Turkish airspace.

The government has warned it had taken all necessary measures to defend itself against any further violations.

Turkey said it scrambled two F-16 jets along the border between its southern Hatay province and Syria after warning the Mi-17 helicopter it was approaching Turkish airspace shortly before 2.30pm, the military said in a statement. Turkey has confirmed it shot down a Syrian helicopter yesterday after it crossed into Turkish airspace

Syria called the reaction 'hasty' and accused Turkey of trying to escalate tensions along the border.



A voice on the video of rebels shooting at the pilot as he parachutes from the helicopter is heard saying: 'Allahu Akbar... Allahu Akbar... Ahfad ar-Rasoul in the cost, downing an aircraft, downing an aircraft... Allahu Akbar.'



As people inspected the wreckage, a voice over the video can be heard heard saying: 'Here are Bashar al-Assad aircrafts.'

News agency Reuters has said it cannot independently verify the authenticity of the videos which were uploaded on a social media website.

'Turkey will definitely not allow any violation of its borders ... We will defend our borders and our people's security to the end'

- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu



The video shows the helicopter falling from the sky in a ball of flames and exploding when it hits the ground.



Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said a warplane shot down the helicopter after it ventured up to a mile into Turkey near the border town of Yayladagi.



'It was repeatedly warned by our air defence elements,' he said.



'Turkey will definitely not allow any violation of its borders ... We will defend our borders and our people's security to the end,' Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Paris.



'No one will have the nerve to violate Turkey's borders in any way again,' he said after a meeting to discuss Syria with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and their French counterpart Laurent Fabius.



Davutoglu said details of the incident would be provided to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the U.N. Security Council and fellow members of the NATO military alliance.



Syria's army acknowledged the helicopter had strayed into Turkish airspace for a short time while monitoring 'terrorists' moving across the border into Syria.

The Syrian military said the helicopter strayed into Turkish airspace by accident and that the aircraft was on its way back when it was shot down

The Syrian military said it was an accident and that the aircraft was on its way back when it was shot down.



In a statement carried by state news agency SANA, it accused Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government of trying to increase tensions between the two countries.



'The hasty response from the Turkish side, especially as the aircraft was on its way back and was not charged with any combat missions, is proof of the true intentions of Erdogan's government toward Syria to increase tensions and escalate the situation on the border between the two countries,' it said.



Turkey, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fiercest critics, has advocated military intervention in Syria'

