Syrian Army command announced that six elite pilots and four others, one technical officer and three technical sub-officers of a military airbase, were assassinated

Syrian Army command announced that six elite pilots and four others, one technical officer and three technical sub-officers of a military airbase, were killed in an attack as they were passing Palmyra-Homs axis on Thursday afternoon.

The army accused, in a statement quoted by SANA, foreign powers of supporting acts of terror within Syria. "An armed terrorist gang murdered six pilots, an officer and three junior officers working for the military airbase," the army said.

The statement added that this escalation exposes the real face of the plot which targets the structure of the Syrian Armed Forces with all its types and confirms foreign parties' involvement in supporting these terrorist operations with the aim of undermining the qualitative combat capabilities of the Armed Forces.

The ambush "took place on the Palmyra-Homs road yesterday afternoon."

The attack was claimed on Thursday by the rebel Free Syrian Army who said seven military pilots were killed in an ambush on a bus.