one of at least four airmen captured by al qaeda militants after their syrian air force helicopter crash landed has appeared in a new propaganda video that calls for the release of a radical cleric the pilot, who was captured near jabal al zawiya in idlib province, is seen looking dazed with bandages wrapped around his head as notorious jihadi abdullah al muhaysini rants alongside him while wielding a massive knife and an assault rifle al muhaysini, who has long been affiliated with al qaeda linked groups in syria, suggests the life of the airman will only be spared if the syrian regime releases notorious jihadi abu mus'ab as suri, who is wanted in spain for suspected links to the 1985 el descanso and 2004 madrid bombings scroll down for video  fear: the captured pilot is seen looking dazed with bandages wrapped around his head as notorious jihadi abdullah al muhaysini rants alongside him while wielding a massive knife and an assault rifle  threatened: the pilot, who was captured near jabal al zawiya in idlib province yesterday, appeared in the video released by al qaeda linked militants from jabhat al nusra this morning  the video shows the airman looking dazed as he sits on the floor of a darkened room with the notorious black and white banner of al qaeda's syrian affiliate jabhat al nusra behind him clearly suffering injuries as a result of the helicopter crash, the pilot still has bloodied bandages wrapped around his head the footage is decidedly amateur, is clearly filmed on either a mobile phone or a cheap recording device   making it look nothing like the slick, professionally edited videos put out by nusra's rival jihadi group islamic state nevertheless, the sight of al muhaysini standing over the pilot and ranting about his possible murder while wielding a large knife has the same chilling impact as any isis release al muhaysini's primary demand is that the syrian regime release abu mus'ab as suri   a notorious al qaeda linked militant who was arrested in pakistan in 2005 and later rendered to his homeland aleppo born as suri   who holds spanish citizenship remains a wanted man in spain on suspicion of taking part in the islamic jihad organization's 1985 bombing at madrid's el descanso restaurant, which left 18 dead he is also wanted as a possible witness to the al qaeda inspired  coordinated bombings on the madrid's train system, which killed 191 people and left more than 2,000 injured in march 2004 'technical malfunction': people gather around a helicopter reportedly belonging to syrian regime forces that crashed in jabal al zawiya yesterday  gathered around: islamist rebels captured four crew members when the helicopter crashed, the syrian observatory for human rights said  the airman was one of six people on board the syrian air force helicopter when it crashed  in a rebel held area of north western syria, near jabal al zawiya in idlib province yesterday it experienced a technical malfunction and made an emergency crash landing according to the uk based syrian observatory for human rights syria's state news agency confirmed that a helicopter had crashed after a mechanical problem and said the authorities were looking for the crew the sohr stated that opposition fighters, including from the al qaeda affiliated nusra front, had taken four crew members prisoner another airman survived the crash but was reportedly killed by his captors, and the fate of a suspected sixth airman is unknown, the observatory said sohr head rami abdel rahman said: ‘a regime helicopter was forced to land in the region of jabal al zawiya in the north west, which is a bastion of (al qaeda's syrian affiliate) al nusra front ‘four of the crew were captured and a fifth man was killed by armed men in a neighbouring village’ down: the airman was one of six people on board the syrian air force helicopter when it crashed in a rebel held area of north western syria, near jabal al zawiya in idlib province yesterday a girl flashes a victory sign as she poses near the crashed helicopter near jabal al zawiya  yesterday  pictures provided by the observatory showed groups of men gathering around a damaged helicopter lying on its side on a rocky hilltop mr rahman said two of the servicemen were being held by nusra front, while the other two were captured by an unknown islamist group an amateur video posted online showed rebels inspecting the wreckage of the helicopter, which had rolled on to its side on a rocky hill the aircraft's blue undercarriage was partially torn and the nose badly damaged photographs posted by activists online showed the same crash site and at least two airmen in rebel custody the united nations claims the syrian air force uses helicopters extensively to drop barrel bombs in indiscriminate attacks on residential areas the improvised munitions are giant canisters packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives and scrap metal however, syrian president bashar al assad denied in a bbc interview last february that his forces used barrel bombs
yesterday airman al qaeda fifth jihadi idlib mus'ab jabhat al nusra sixth abdullah al muhaysini
airman was seen in video released by al qaeda affiliated jabhat al nusra  notorious militant abdullah al muhaysini stands over him wielding a knife  jihadi calls for the release of another al qaeda extremist, mus'ab as suri  airman was among at least four people captured near idlib yesterday  the regime helicopter suffered a 'technical malfunction' and crash landed  a fifth airman was immediately killed by the militants and a sixth is missing 