U.S. jet shoots down Syrian warplane

A U.S. fighter jet shot down a Syrian warplane Sunday after the Syrians struck local ground forces supported by the United States, the first time the U.S. military has downed a Syrian aircraft since the start of the civil war in 2011, officials said. The combined air and ground confrontation represents a further escalation between forces supporting President Bashar Assad of Syria and the United States, which has been directing the military campaign in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State.