Turkey downs Russian warplane near Syrian border

Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday, drawing an angry response from Moscow and prompting an emergency NATO meeting.

The Turkish military said it issued 10 warnings in five minutes before the Su- 24 attack aircraft was shot down by two F- 16 jets. Russia’s defense ministry denied the plane ever strayed from Syria.

Army Col. Steve Warren, a U. S. military spokesman in Baghdad, confirmed that 10 warnings were issued, and that the incident occurred “at the border.” It was not immediately clear what side of the border the shoot- down took place, Warren said, adding that the military was examining flight data.

In a related incident, Syrian rebels claimed to have shot down a Russian helicopter searching for the plane’s pilots, using U. S.- supplied TOW missiles, according to multiple media outlets citing the London- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. All 10 oc- cupants of the craft evacuated safely, the Observatory’s Rami Abdulrahman told The Guardian.

The plane went down in Bayir-bucak, in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, Turkey’s state- run Anadolu news agency reported. Rebels at the scene fatally shot two parachuting pilots, Alpaslan Celik, the second- incommand of a Turkmen rebel force, told multiple media outlets. A Turkish official, however, told Reuters that his government believes the pilots are alive and that authorities were working to secure their release.

HABERTURK TV CHANNEL EPA An image from the HaberTurk TV channel shows a burning trail from a plane shot down near the Turkish- Syrian border.