Fighters of the Free Syrian Army on Monday shot down a fighter jet belonging to regime forces in the Syrian Desert as regime forces and the Iranian-backed sectarian militias attempted to advance on the FSA held-areas in the area.
The FSA Ossoud Alsharqiya Battalion announced that they shot down a regime fighter jet near Tal Dakwa hill about 50 kilometers to the east of Damascus.
“We shot down the warplane in an area of operations linked to countering the advance the regime forces and the Iranian-backed militias,” Saad al-Haj, spokesman for Ossoud Alsharqiya Battalion told Reuters.
Said Saif, member of the FSA Ahmed Abdu Battalion which operate in the area, said that the airplane crashed 15 kilometers east of the village of Bier Alqasab located between Tal Dakwa hill and the Dumeir airbase.
Saif said they have hit the fighter jet with heavy anti-aircraft guns Saif said they have received from the United States and allies in recent weeks to support them in the battle for the Syrian Desert.
Ossoud Alsharqiya Battalion posted pictures on Twitter showing the body of the pilot and the wreckage of the fighter. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department + Agencies)
