Syrian Rebels shoot down Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22M-4 fighter-bomber in Idlib, Pilot captured after ejection

August 14, 2019 Aircraft Crash News 2,080 Views

A Sukhoi Su-22M-4 fighter jet of the Syrian Air Force was shot down by the jihadist group Tahrir al-Sham near Al-Tamanah, Idlib governorate.

A pilot who ejected from the plane was captured, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on the war using a network of sources. Syrian state media made no initial mention of such an incident.

The jihadist Tahrir al-Sham, the most powerful insurgent group in the area, said its fighters had shot down a Sukhoi 22 jet that had taken off from a Syrian air base in Homs province.

Wreckage of yrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22M-4 fighter-bomber in Idlib – See Details: https://t.co/FNLnUFloQY pic.twitter.com/3a79yFuZtH
— Fighter jets World (@FJW_Aviation) August 14, 2019

The jet was downed near Khan Sheikhoun, a rebel-held town that was hit by a sarin gas attack in 2017 and is now being targeted in a Russian-backed government offensive.

Tahrir al-Sham’s statement did not say how the plane had been shot down. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said heavy machine guns had been used.

Here is Video of Crash site of Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22M-4 fighter-bomber

Video of Crash Site of Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-22M-4 fighter-bomber in Idlib – See Details: https://t.co/FNLnUFloQY pic.twitter.com/7IUgDXEO0e
— Fighter jets World (@FJW_Aviation) August 14, 2019

The northwestern Idlib region is part of the last major stronghold of the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

Government forces seized new ground from rebels near Khan Sheikhoun on Wednesday, advancing to within a few kilometers (miles) of the town. A rebel commander told Reuters that the town, in opposition hands since 2014, was in “great danger.”

Syrian rebels have shot down government planes on several occasions during the war that spiraled out of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.