Big toll in plane crash

A RUSSIAN military cargo plane crashed near an air base in Syria on Tuesday, killing all 39 Russian servicemen on board in a blow to Russian operations in Syria.

The Russian military quickly insisted the plane was not shot down and blamed the crash on a technical error.

Meanwhile, shelling near the rebel-held eastern suburbs of Damascus killed dozens of people in the past 24 hours as President Bashar Assad’s government, supported by the Russian military, pushed its assault on the capital’s rebelheld suburbs.

The aid mission on Monday to the area known as eastern Ghouta was cut short after the government shelling escalated.