A picture taken on February 3, 2018, shows smoke billowing from the site of a downed Sukhoi-25 fighter jet in Syria's northwest province of Idlib. Rebel fighters shot down a Russian plane over Syria's northwest Idlib province and captured its pilot, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. / AFP PHOTO / OMAR HAJ KADOUR / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [in Syria's northwest province of Idlib.] instead of [near the Syrian city of Saraqib, southwest of Aleppo.]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.
Russian pilot was killed in Syria on Saturday after parachuting into rebel-held territory when his plane was shot down, the Defense 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, quoted by Russian press agencies.
“The pilot was killed in fighting against terrorists.”
It added that “according to preliminary reports, the plane was shot down by a portable anti-aircraft missile system.”
The Russian army claimed it had killed “more than 30 al-Nusra Front fighters” during a strike with “high-precision weapons” in the area where the plane was shot down.
The region where the plane crashed is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist outfit dominated by Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate.
Forces supporting president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, backed by Russia, launched an offensive at the end of December to recapture the southeastern province of Idlib, the last enclave completely out of Damascus’s control.
Opposition groups have in the past shot down Syrian planes, but rarely those of the Russian army.
In August 2016, five Russian soldiers were killed after their helicopter was shot down by rebel groups in Idlib.
In November 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian military aircraft, which caused a diplomatic crisis between Moscow and Ankara.
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