The Mi-24 military helicopter was flying to Hama, northwestern Syria, and there was no firing from the ground, agencies quote the ministry as saying.

"Both pilots died in a hard landing 15 km from the air base," the ministry said, adding that a technician had been injured and taken to another air base at for emergency treatment.

The investigative blog Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) quoted a post from Forumavia aviation forum saying the helicopter had tripped over power line wires and crashed while escorting a convoy.

The post did not specify whether the helicopter was escorting a humanitarian convoy or combat unit and the defense ministry did not give any further details, NRT reported.

Reporter’s code: 50101