Russia has retaliated against a Russian warplane downed by Syria on Saturday, by killing over 30 militants in the area where the plane was downed, Interfax reported.
By Ben Kerrigan-
The defense ministry said it used “precision-guided weapons” to carry out the strike, but gave no details.
Screen Shot Image of burning Russian plane – from Feb. 3. Journalist Moaz AlShami Twitter. account (Moaz al-Shami)
The Russian warplane brought down over Syria on Saturday was hit by a surface-to-air missile by Syrian rebels.
The pilot was killed after an exchange of gunfire with militants on the ground, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Screen Shot Image of plane – from Feb. 3. Video, by Journalist Moaz AlShami Twitter. account (Moaz al-Shami)
The rebels shot down the Su-25 fighter jet using a man-portable antiaircraft system, Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted the Defense Ministry as saying. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that the rebels had brought down the jet using a surface-to-air missile, also known as MANPADS.
ADVANCE
Pro-government forces have advanced on Idlib under Russian cover in recent days. Russia entered Syria’s civil war in 2015 on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. And its intervention turned the tide of the brutal war, allowing Syria’s government to recapture the city of Aleppo from the rebels and beat back militants in other parts of the country.
Idlib remains under militant control, including by former al-Qaeda-linked forces, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The province is also home to about a million displaced people from around Syria, and renewed fighting has displaced residents within Idlib in recent weeks.
Syrian rebels have occasionally used individual weapons obtained from the battlefield. Rebels forces have shot down Syrian fighter jets and other Russian military aircraft. In August 2016, a Russian transport helicopter was shot down as it was flying over Idlib province, killing all five people aboard
Videos online showed the alleged crash site of the fighter jet in Idlib’s Saraqeb, which the United Nations said has recently suffered “heavy shelling and aerial bombardment.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said An airstrike on a potato market there earlier this week killed at least sixteen people, and the town’s hospital was also attacked, the U.N office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
The ministry of defense said it was working with Turkey to bring the pilot’s body home.
Over half a million people have been killed in Syria’s bitter long war The conflict has sucked in world powers
A number of Russian fighter jets are reportedly heading to the region, with the military targeting rebel-held areas in a fiery retaliation.