Russian pilot killed after downing of fighter jet

A Russian pilot was killed in Syria yesterday after parachuting into rebel-held territory when his Sukhoi jet fighter was shot down, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

“A Russian Su-25 aircraft crashed during a flight over the Idlib de-escalation zone. The pilot had enough time to announce he had ejected into the zone, under the control of Al Nusra Front fighters,” the ministry said. “The pilot was killed in fighting against terrorists.”

It said “according to preliminary reports, the plane was shot down by a portable anti-aircraft missile system”.

The region where the plane crashed is controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a rebel group dominated by Al Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate.

“There have been dozens of Russian air strikes in the area over the past 24 hours. This plane was also carrying out raids there,” said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that monitors the country’s seven-year-long civil war.

Forces supporting President Bashar Al Assad’s government, backed by Russia, launched an offensive at the end of December to recapture the north-eastern province of Idlib, the last enclave out of government control. Opposition groups have shot down Syrian planes in the past but rarely those of the Russian Air Force.

Seven Turkish soldiers were also killed yesterday in the offensive against Kurdish militia inside Syria, including five who died in an attack on a tank.

The losses marked the highest toll in one day for the Turkish military in Operation Olive Branch, launched on January 20 against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia that Ankara considers a terrorist group. The clashes brought Turkish troops killed so far in operations to 14.

The Turkish army and allied Ankara-backed Syrian rebel forces are seeking to oust the YPG from its western border stronghold of Afrin.

The army said that one of the soldiers was killed in a clash and another in the border area, without giving further details. It later said a tank had been hit in another attack, killing all five soldiers inside.

In retaliation, Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes on the area of the attack, destroying shelters and munitions dumps, the army said.