Syrian rebels say they downed Russian jet and captured pilot
AMMAN – Syrian rebels said on Saturday they had brought down a Russian warplane in an area of northern Syria’s Idlib province that has seen heavy air strikes, and two rebel sources said they had captured the pilot who was badly injured.
A rebel source said the Sukhoi plane was shot down over Khan al-Subl town near the city of Saraqeb, close to a major highway that has come under fierce air attack, where the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militias are trying to advance on the ground.
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Two rebel sources said the pilot was badly injured after escaping the crash by parachute. A third rebel source said he was killed. There was no immediate comment from the Russian or Syrian armies.
At least five civilians were killed in the bombing of rebel-held Saraqeb city on Saturday, which residents blamed on Russian jets. Syrians in rebel-held areas say they can distinguish between Russian warplanes and those of the Syrian air force, because the Russian planes fly at higher altitude.
Residents say thousands of people have been forced by air strikes to flee the area, moving further north to the safety of makeshift camps constructed on the Syrian side of the Turkish border.
Russia’s Defense Ministry regularly says it targets only hardline Islamist militants in Syria.
Syria’s civil war, now entering its eighth year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven more than 11 million from their homes. Since Russia joined the war on the side of the Syrian government in 2015, rebels have lost control of nearly all major population centers, but they still maintain a stronghold in Idlib.