Dramatic moment Syrian jet explodes as it is shot down by Turkish fighter planes for 'violating its airspace'

The attack on the plane - from which the pilot ejected - happened in a border region where Syrian rebels have been battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces. The rebels have been fighting for control of the Kasab crossing, the border region, since Friday, when they launched an offensive which Syrian authorities say was backed by Turkey's military.

This is the dramatic moment that a Syrian warplane exploded after being shot down by a Syrian fighter plane in a move sure to increase tensions between the two countries.


The attack on the plane - from which the pilot ejected - happened in a border region where Syrian rebels have been battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

‘A Syrian plane violated our airspace,’ Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an election rally of his supporters in north-west Turkey.

 

‘Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard.’

He added: ‘I congratulate the chief of general staff, the armed forces and those honourable pilots... I congratulate our air forces.’

The rebels have been fighting for control of the Kasab crossing, the border region, since Friday, when they launched an offensive which Syrian authorities say was backed by Turkey's military.

Syria said Turkish air defences shot down the jet while it was attacking rebel forces inside Syrian territory, calling the move a ‘blatant aggression’.

Turkish media reported that the army warned two Syrian jets approaching the border to turn away, but scrambled its F-16 jets when one refused to abide by the warning.   

State television quoted a military source as saying the pilot managed to eject from the plane. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said initial reports from the area said the plane came down on the Syrian side of the border.

Al Manar, the television station of Assad's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, said two rockets had been fired from Turkish territory at the Syrian jet.

Turkish warplanes last September downed a Syrian helicopter, which Ankara said was detected 1.2 miles inside Turkish airspace.

Turkey toughened its rules of engagement after the downing of one of its fighter jets by the Syrian air force in June 2012, to say that any military approach of the Turkish border from Syria would be considered a threat.

Since the conflict began in Syria, more than 100,000 people have been killed - with 6.5million nationals displaced and 2.5 million registered as refugees.