The Syrian army has shot down a drone operated by terrorists and loaded with bombs near Hama’s airport, Syrian state TV reported late on Wednesday.

The report said the drone was launched by Nusra Front terrorists, but it did not provide further details.

Syria has repelled numerous drone and rocket attacks by terrorists, with the help of the Russian forces and their missile defense systems.

Earlier this month, Russia’s military said in April it had repelled 12 drone and rocket attacks by terrorists based in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib against a Russian airbase and Syrian positions in Latakia.

The attacks had been conducted against Russia’s Hmeimim airbase and Syrian troops’ positions since early April, said Major General Viktor Kupchishin, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Syrian Reconciliation.

Russia: 12 drone, rocket attacks foiled in Syria in April

The Russian military says 12 drone and rocket attacks staged by terrorists in Syria’s Latakia have been repelled during the past month.

Last year, Russia warned that terrorists had acquired advanced technologies on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). 

“The production of such deadly machines requires superior professional knowledge, practical skills and experience in operating drones,” says Head of the UAV department of the Russian General Staff Major General Aleksander Novikov.

Russia has been helping Syrian forces in their fight against foreign-backed Takfiri militants. The military assistance began in September 2015 at the official request of the Syrian government.