Syrian army says US-led coalition downed Syrian army plane

The US-led coalition downed a Syrian army jet on Sunday in the southern Raqqa countryside during a Syrian combat mission against Daesh militants, the Syrian army said.

An army statement released on Syrian state television said the plane crashed and the pilot was missing. It said the incident took place on Sunday afternoon near a village called Rasafah.

The “flagrant attack was an attempt to undermine the efforts of the army as the only effective force capable with its allies … in fighting terrorism across its territory,” it said.

This comes at a time when the Syrian army and its allies were making clear advances in fighting the Daesh terrorist group.

There was no immediate comment from the US-led coalition, which has in recent weeks escalated its aerial bombing campaign in northern Syria and Raqqa province. US-backed forces have encircled the city of Raqqa and captured several districts from the militants.

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The Syrian army has also taken territory from retreating Daesh militants in the western Raqqa countryside and seized back some oil fields and villages that had been under the militants’ control for almost three years.