In a coordinated plan with President Bashar al-Assad’s air force, Russian warplanes escalated air raids on the cities and towns of the Idleb and Hama countryside Saturday night and Sunday, right after the Syrian opposition downed a regime fighter jet.
The Russian airstrikes on the town of Kafranbel in the southern Idleb countryside resulted in martyring six and wounding 19 others after the town was targeted with more than three strikes.
Sources from the town of Kafranbel said that the raids targeted the town in the late hours of Saturday night, causing fatalities and injuries among sleeping women and children.
Similarly, regime jets carried out a number of raids on the town of Al-Shughour in the Jisr al-Shughour countryside and the city of Khan Sheikhoun and its environs, while raids were also reported to have taken place against the towns of Al-Latamana and Lahaya in the northern Hamah countryside, killing and wounding people and damaging residential buildings.
The air raids from the Russian and regime jets come after the opposition announced yesterday that it had inflicted damage on a regime warplane in the northern Idleb countryside, causing it to crash inside Turkish territory.
The Turkish Daily Sabah website reported that Turkish forces had found the wounded pilot, but refused to provide further details.
Previously, Syrian television, the Assad regime’s mouthpiece, had announced that communications were lost with a war plane near the border with Turkey and that search operations were underway for the pilot.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
