Image copyright AFP Image caption Rebel fighters posed for pictures with wreckage from the warplane

A Syrian government warplane has been shot down during fighting in the rebel-held northern province of Idlib.

It happened near the town of Khan Sheikhoun, which is being targeted in a Russian-backed government offensive.

Syrian state news agency Sana said that the warplane was hit by an anti-aircraft missile fired by militants.

Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has claimed responsibility and released footage purportedly showing the captured pilot.

HTS, the dominant faction in Idlib, did not say how it brought down the Russian-made Sukhoi warplane on Wednesday.

In a video published by its media arm Iba on Thursday, a man identifies himself as "Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ahmad Sulayman from the 70th Brigade".

"My plane was shot down by mujahideen while I was carrying out my mission east of Khan Sheikhoun. I am currently with mujahideen," he says, referring to the jihadist group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, had earlier reported that the pilot had been captured by HTS militants.

Sana quoted a military source as saying that the pilot's fate was unknown.

The government has stepped up its offensive in the region in recent months. Hundreds of civilians have been killed, and hundreds of thousands more driven from their homes.

Syria's government, backed by Russia, is trying to recapture the region from rebels and jihadists.

Khan Sheikhoun, which was hit by a Sarin gas attack in 2017, is a strategically important town in the south of the province.

Government forces said they had seized new ground on Wednesday, advancing to within a few kilometres of Khan Sheikhoun, which has been controlled by rebels since 2014.

A rebel commander told Reuters news agency that the town was in "great danger".

Image copyright AFP Image caption The plane left a large crater after being shot down near Khan Sheikhoun

Idlib, northern Hama and western Aleppo province make up the last opposition stronghold in Syria after eight years of civil war.

They are supposedly covered by a truce brokered in September by Russia and opposition-backer Turkey that spared the 2.7 million civilians living there from a major government offensive.

Civilian areas have been hit frequently since the Syrian government and Russia intensified their attacks earlier this year in response to what they said were repeated truce violations by jihadists linked to al-Qaeda, who dominate the region. </s> BEIRUT, LEBANON (7:40 A.M.) – The Turkish Air Force allegedly deployed some of their warplanes to the southern countryside of the Idlib Governorate after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) scored a series of gains near the city of Khan Sheikhoun.

According to the aviation publication Avia.Pro, two Russian Su-35 jets intercepted the Turkish warplanes and forced them to leave Syria’s airspace.

“The Su-35 fighters escorted and guarded the Syrian Air Force when they were attacking Khan Sheikhoun after threats from Turkey,” Avia.Pro reported, citing a Telegram military channel.

While these claims are not confirmed, the Turkish military did send two large convoys to the northern outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun after their allied militant forces lost a great deal of ground to the Syrian Arab Army around the city.

It is worth noting that both the Syrian and Turkish air defenses have downed each others warplanes during the Syrian conflict, with the latest incident in 2017.
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Filed under: Erdogan, Russia, SAA, Syria, Turkey, War on Syria | Tagged: Khan Sheikhoun, Liberation of Idlib, Putin-Erdogan-Idlib | </s> MOSCOW — A Russian fighter jet was shot down in a rebel-controlled area of Idlib Province in northern Syria on Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, adding that the pilot survived the initial attack by parachuting from the plane but was killed by members of a militia on the ground.

The downing of the jet occurred in one of the country’s so-called de-escalation zones established last year by Russia, Iran and Turkey, in an attempt to lessen the bloodshed in Syria’s long civil war.

The Russian Su-25 warplane was patrolling the Idlib area when it was struck by a missile, launched from an area controlled by rebels, the ministry said in a statement. The pilot has yet to be identified.

The rebel-held area where the plane was shot down, in the northwest of Idlib Province, is controlled by several different rebel factions, including the Free Syria Army, Islamist groups and Tahrir al-Sham, an Al Qaeda-affiliated alliance.

Videos taken at the scenes of the crash and released by local activists showed flames billowing from the crumpled debris of a plane, clearly identifiable as an Su-25, and showed the red star symbol used by the Russian Air Force.

Moaz al-Shami, a media activist who lives in Idlib Province and who regularly posts video footage from the area, appears in one of the videos and describes the fighters who downed the plane as “heroes,” avenging civilians killed in airstrikes by Russian jets.

Since President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia first ordered his forces to Syria, Russia has lost four warplanes, four helicopters and about 50 servicemen in the conflict.

In a later statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it used high-precision weapons to kill more than 30 rebel forces in the area where the attack on the Russian aircraft was launched. Russian authorities, along with Turkish forces who are responsible for the de-escalation zone, are working to retrieve the pilot’s body.

In December, Mr. Putin ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria, declaring their mission completed. However, some Russian warplanes have stayed at the Hmeimim air base, which became Russia’s permanent air force facility in Syria.

In Moscow, Russian lawmakers promised a thorough investigation of the crash.

“Politically, this is very important and will have far-reaching consequences,” Franz Klintsevich, a member of the Russian Federation Council told Interfax, a Russian news agency.

Others blamed the United States for supplying Syrian rebels with weapons capable of shooting down the warplane.

“We have warned that the Americans will deliver such equipment, and they cannot control it later,” Aleksei Chepa, a member of the State Duma, told Interfax, adding that concerns had been expressed before that the weapons could bring down military and civilian planes. </s> The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage showing a precision strike against terrorists in the northwest Syria province of Idlib, following the downing of an Su-25 jet. The pilot, Roman Nikolaevich Filippov safely ejected - only to be killed by militants on the ground, according to the Ministry.

Earlier, Ebaa Agency released a video of the moment the Russian Su-25SM was shot down by MANPADS over Saraqib, in Idlib. According to Ebaa, the AlQaeda affiliated Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) backed by Qatar, was responsible. The MANPADS was probably an FN-6 delivered through Turkey, the agency speculated.

Russia promptly responded: The aerial night-vision footage shows a barrage of cruise missiles hitting ground targets, which are believed to have killed around 30 terrorists.

More footage reveals a heavy cluster bomb attack on the village of Maasaran, near the site of the downed Su-25:

As we reported earlier, the Su-25 warplane was the first Russian fighter jet downed above Syria since 2015. A Russian defense ministry official confirmed the plane was shot down, stating "The plane was flying around the de-escalation zone of Idlib."

The extremist group Tahrir al-Sham has claimed responsibility for the downing of the Ruissian Su-25, according to Reuters - while another militant group, Jaysh al-Nasr, took credit as well - posting pictures and videos celebrating the downed aircraft to its twitter account.

The group posted a video with an unknown date containing footage of a 23mm Anti-Aircraft gun ostensibly used to shoot down the Russian jet. </s> BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):

The Russian Defense Ministry says a Su-33 fighter jet, based on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after returning from a sortie over Syria.

The ministry says in a statement that was reported by Russian news agencies that "because of the failure of the arrester system's cable, the Su-33 fighter rolled off the deck" on Monday.

The pilot of the aircraft successfully ejected and was unharmed in the incident. The ministry added that Russian military operations over Syria will not be affected by the incident.

This is the second loss of an aircraft from Russia's only aircraft carrier since it arrived off Syria last month. The Defense Ministry said that a Mig-29 fighter crashed into the sea on Nov. 15 while attempting to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov.

Syrian activists say Russian and Syrian aircraft have stepped up their assaults on the rebel-held province of Idlib, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people.

The activist-run Local Coordination Committees is reporting airstrikes on the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan, and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital, Idlib.

The network says the Monday morning airstrikes killed three children. It blamed the attacks on Russian aircraft.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported strikes on Idlib city. It says 288 civilians have been killed in the province since Oct. 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes.

The Syrian Civil Defense first responder group said 65 civilians were killed in Sunday airstrikes across the province, including attacks on two rural marketplaces that killed dozens. </s> KHAN SHEIKHUN, Syria: Jihadists on Wednesday downed a regime plane flying over northwest Syria as it took part in a deadly campaign that has seen loyalists inch forward against their opponents, a monitor said.

An AFP correspondent saw smoke rising in the south of Idlib province above the debris of the plane, with its wing bearing the Syrian flag. After eight years of civil war in Syria, the Idlib region—controlled by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate—is the last major stronghold of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Regime and Russian air strikes, as well as rocket fire, have pounded Idlib for more than three months, killing hundreds and displacing 400,000 people. Over the past week, pro-Assad fighters have nibbled away at the southern edges of Idlib and on Wednesday they stood just kilometres away from a key jihadist-held town.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday´s downing of the plane was the first such incident since late April. “The pilot has been taken prisoner” and is in the hands of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group running the Idlib region, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

HTS and the correspondent said the Russian-made war plane was downed near the town of Al-Tamanaa. The crash site lies east of the near-deserted town of Khan Sheikhun, which lies on a key highway coveted by the regime.

The road in question runs through Idlib, connecting government-held Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, which was retaken by loyalists from rebels in December 2016. </s> In a retaliatory move, massive Russian air strikes have killed at least 30 militants in Syria, where a Russian fighter jet was shot down, an official said on Sunday. “A series of high-precision weapon strikes have been delivered in the area controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, which brought down the Russian Su-25 jet by using a portable anti-aircraft missile system in the Syrian province Idlib,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said. “According to radio intercepts, more than 30 Jabhat al-Nusra militants were killed,” Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying.

Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said a pilot survived the fighter jet crash but was later killed in a ground fight with terrorists. The pilot had reported earlier that he ejected by parachute in the area, controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra militants. In May 2017, the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire — Russia, Iran and Turkey — agreed to set up the Syrian de-escalation zones in Syria, which includes Idlib province. A Russian pilot has been killed after his plane was shot down by militants in the Syrian province of Idlib, the Russian Defence Ministry has said.

“A Russian Su-25 aircraft crashed during a flight over the Idlib de-escalation area,” the ministry said in the statement on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported. “The pilot died in a fight with the terrorists,” the statement said, adding that preliminary information showed that the plane was downed by use of a man-portable anti-aircraft missile system. “The Russian centre for the reconciliation of opposing sides in Syria and the Turkish side overseeing the Idlib de-escalation area are working to bring the Russian pilot’s body home,” it said. The pilot had reported earlier that he ejected by parachute in the area, controlled by Nusra Front militants. </s> Terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham, linked to former terrorist Al Qaeda branch in Syria, claims responsibility for shooting down Russian combat jet SU-25 with shoulder-launched anti-aircraft Projectile.

Tahrir al-Sham released a post on social media quoting a commander in charge of its air raids as saying one of its militants had hit Russian SU-25 during an "air raid" over the city of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Earlier on in the day, Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that dozens of terrorists were killed as a result of a powerful high precision strike targeting Syria's province of Idlib where Russian SU-25 aircraft was downed.

Russian Su-25 attack aircraft was downed in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday.

"When patrolling the Idlib de-escalation zone, a Russian Su-25 aircraft crashed… According to the preliminary information, the jet was shot down from a man-portable air-defense system," Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that the pilot was killed.

It is noted that the pilot reported that he managed to eject from his plane and landed in an area controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group.

"The pilot was killed during a fight with terrorists," the Russian ministry said.

Terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham includes the terrorist group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which served as al Qaeda's Syrian branch, also a terrorist organization. </s> Moscow: In a retaliatory move, massive Russian air strikes have killed at least 30 militants in Syria, where a Russian fighter jet was shot down, an official said on Sunday.

“A series of high-precision weapon strikes have been delivered in the area controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, which brought down the Russian Su-25 jet by using a portable anti-aircraft missile system in the Syrian province Idlib,” Russia’s Defence Ministry said.

“According to radio intercepts, more than 30 Jabhat al-Nusra militants were killed,” Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying.

Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said a pilot survived the fighter jet crash but was later killed in a ground fight with terrorists.

The pilot had reported earlier that he ejected by parachute in the area, controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra militants.

In May 2017, the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire — Russia, Iran and Turkey — agreed to set up the Syrian de-escalation zones in Syria, which includes Idlib province.
A Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22 jet is shot down by rebel forces near the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate, Syria. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadists say they have captured the pilot.