Back in April, in the immediate aftermath of the US cruise missile attack on Syria’s Al-Shayrat air base, Russia retaliated by switching off the ‘de-confliction’ hotline between the US and Russian militaries in Syria, which enables these militaries to avoid accidental clashes with each other.
A Russian Su-30 fighter jet takes off on a combat mission with a Su-30 bomber in the foreground, at Hemeimeem airbase, Syria, on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. (Photo: Vladimir Isachenkov/AP)
21st Century Wire says…
Yesterday a US F/A-18E Super Hornet is reported to have shot down a Syrian Army SU-22 jet near the village of Rasafah, south of Raqqa. Washington claims it was an act of ‘collective self-defense’ because the Syrian jet had dropped bombs “near US-backed forces.” Syrian officials in Damascus deny the US claims, stating that their plane was downed while conducting a strike on an ISIS position.
Child of extremist fighters in Al Waer, Homs being evacuated peacefully under Syrian government Amnesty & Reconciliation agreement. Many of these families have since returned to Homs from Jarablus because they couldnt live under extremist rule in Idlib/Turkey. (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)
RT/SPUTNIK
The US has now confirmed that it was responsible for shooting down a Syrian SU-22 and the US led Coalition has now released the following statement explaining its move
(ZH) — The US-led, so-called anti-terrorist, coalition has reportedly shot down a Syrian government forces aircraft. Reuters reports the Syrian Arab Army announced that the aircraft was brought down in the southern Raqqa countryside, while it was engaging a fleeing ISIS convoy. The pilot remains missing.
The Syrian Arab Army has confirmed that US forces have downed a Syrian plane which was targeting ISIS in Raqqa.
Syria released a statement saying,
“This attack comes at a time when the Syrian Arab army and its allies are advancing in the fight against ISIS terrorists who are being defeated the Syrian desert in more ways than one”.
The United States confirmed the attack in the following statement,
Russian President Putin received a report from Russian Defence Minister Shoigu yesterday during a meeting of Russia’s Security Council concerning the claims that a Russian air strike might have killed the ISIS leader Ibrahim Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
The report of the meeting on the Kremlin’s website is careful not to repeat this claim or even to mention Al-Baghdadi’s name
Shia Muslims burn an effigy of the leader of the ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a protest in New Delhi, India, June 9, 2017. (AP/Manish Swarup)
The Russian military announced on Friday that they may have killed the leader of the Islamic State Group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after an airstrike destroyed a meeting at which the terrorist group leader was believed to be in attendance, although official confirmation has not yet been received.
The battle for Raqqa, a symbolic city for the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria is underway with ever-increasing dangers to civilian populations caught in the cross-fire of ISIS and the advancing Kurd-led Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by air strikes of the US-led coalition. The United Nations Secretariat has raised an alarm concerning the fate of families held by the[Read More...]
