Russian aircraft lost from unintentional radar shot by Syria

Russian aircraft lost from unintentional radar shot by Syria

Russian Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance military aircraft that disappeared from radar late Monday (09/17/2018) was accidentally shot down by its own ally, Syria.

The news was revealed by a US official who understood the incident, as reported by CNN Tuesday (9/18/2018).

The anonymous official said the fall of Il-20 after the Syrian defense system made a counter-attack on Israeli fighter jets.

Four F-16 fighter jets held attacks in Latakia Province. When replying to that, the Il-20 aircraft carrying 14 personnel was hit.

Russian aircraft lost from unintentional radar shot by Syria

Washington understands the incident after Syria broadcast an international radio frequency call for rescue requests.

The US then received a message directly from a country regarding the type of aircraft being shot and the shooting situation.

The official did not explain which country gave the aircraft details. However, the strong suspicion that the country that described it was Russia.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Soviet-made aircraft disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea, 35 kilometers from the Syrian coast.

The plane was shot at 11:00 p.m. local time. The Kremlin official said, the fall of Il-20 was an "unexpected critical incident".

In his statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense said there was a country that helped Israel attack Latakia which is the base of President Bashar al-Assad.

One of them is France. Moscow said there were missiles fired from their destroyer, The Auvergne.

Paris denied the allegations. While the US said they also did not launch any missiles to Syria.

The loss of IL-20 came hours after Russia guaranteed that it would not carry out attacks in Idlib Province.

In a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for one hour, the two agreed to form a demilitarized zone.

In the 15-20 kilometer wide zone, communication lines will be established between the remaining rebel groups and the Syrian government on 1 October 15.

Putin said, the effort was expected to make radical groups such as the Al-Nusra Front to leave the Idlib.

Russia intervened to assist the Assad regime in the Syrian conflict in 2015. Together with Damascus, they intend to attack Idlib which is the rebel's last base.

Source: kompas