Syria: Group formerly linked to al Qaeda says it downed Russian jet 7 Turkish soldiers die in Syria in a single day: Army
A Russian warplane was shot down in Syria on Saturday and its pilot killed on the ground after he ejected from the plane, Russia’s defence ministry and Syrian rebels said.
A jihadi group linked to the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria claimed responsibility for shooting down the Russian SU-25 warplane with a shoulder launched anti-aircraft missile.
The group Tahrir al-Sham released a statement on social media quoting a commander in charge of its air defences as saying one of its fighters had hit the jet during an air raid over the city of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib. Tahrir al-Sham includes the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which served as al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch.
Idlib province has seen heavy air strikes and fighting on the ground between government forces backed by Russia and Iran, and rebels who oppose President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrians opposed to Assad see Russia as an invading force they blame for the deaths of thousands of civilians since Moscow joined the war on the side of the Syrian government in 2015.
Although the Russian pilot escaped the crash, he was killed by rebels who had tried to capture
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him, a source said.
“This work is the least we can do to revenge our people. Let the criminal invaders know that our skies are not a picnic and they will not pass through without paying a price God willing,” senior Tahrir al-Sham commander Mahmoud Turkomani said in a statement released by the group.
Russia’s defence ministry also said that the aircraft was downed by a portable surface-to-air missile. The pilot reported that he had ejected by parachute, and he was later killed on the ground.
“The pilot died in a fight with terrorists,” it said.
Tass news agency quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying Moscow retaliated with a strike from an undisclosed highprecision weapon that killed more than 30 militants in an area of Idlib province where the plane was downed.
The Syrian opposition released footage on social media that purported to show the wreckage of the plane and the body of the pilot surrounded by fighters. Rebels said the downed warplane had taken part in strikes that targeted civilian convoys fleeing along a major Syrian highway from villages that the army and foreign militias had overrun.
Seven Turkish soldiers were killed on Saturday in Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish militia inside Syria, including five who died in a single attack on a tank, the army said.
The losses marked the highest toll in one day for the Turkish military in operation “Olive Branch”, launched on January 20 against Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia seen by Ankara as a terror group.
The attack on the tank, details of which were not disclosed, was also the single deadliest attack on the military of the offensive.
The latest clashes brought to 14 the number of Turkish troops killed so far in operation.
The Turkish army and allied Syrian rebel forces are seeking to oust the YPG from its western border stronghold of Afrin but the operation so far has been marked by fierce clashes.
The army said that one of the soldiers was killed in a clash and another on the border area.
In a later statement, it added a Turkish army tank had been hit in another attack, killing all five servicemen inside. AFP
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