News / Syria

Syrian Air Force warplane goes down in northern Hama, pilot killed

Tuesday, 26 December 2017 6:14 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 26 December 2017 6:16 PM ]

A Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22 flies over the militant-held besieged town of Arbin, in the Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of Damascus, during an airstrike on November 23, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The Syrian military said one of its jet fighter aircraft has crashed in the country’s west-central province of Hama as Syrian government forces, backed by fighters from allied popular defense groups, continue to make territorial gains in battles against foreign-backed Takfiri militants.

An unnamed military source told privately-owned and pro-government al-Ikhbariya al-Soriyah television news network that the warplane went down in the northern part of the province on Tuesday evening, after it was targeted by a terrorist attack.

Militants from the so-called Free Syrian Army later said they had struck the Syrian military jet using a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile.

Syrian forces, allies deal heavy blows to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in Idlib

Meanwhile, Syrian government forces and fighters from allied popular defense groups have killed scores of terrorists from the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, during separate counter-terrorism operations across the northwestern province of Idlib.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syrian forces and their allies had managed to establish complete control over Tell Aswad area as well as a military base near Musheirifa village, which lies southeast of Idlib.

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on November 21, 2017 shows members of the pro-Syrian government forces waving a national flag as they gather in a public square in the Syrian border town of Albu Kamal.

The operations left many Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militants dead and injured, and their fortifications destroyed. Syrian army bomb disposal units could dismantle tens of landmines and hidden explosive devices in the liberated areas.

Syrian army units also targeted the positions of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorists in the southeastern countryside of Idlib province, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists’ ranks and military equipment in the villages of Tell Mardikh and Abu Dali, in addition to Saraqib city.

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