Turkey shoots down two Syrian government warplanes over Idlib

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Turkey's military has shot down two Syrian government warplanes over northwest Idlib, hours after Syrian forces brought down a Turkish drone over the region.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Turkey's defence ministry said its forces struck two SU-24 aircraft in response to the downing of the drone.

Syria's SANA news agency confirmed the fighter jets were hit over Idlib, but said no one was hurt in the attack. The pilots used parachutes and landed safely, it added.

Earlier on Sunday, Turkish and Syrian state-run media offered contradicting reports on the downing of the drone. Turkey's Anadolu agency said an "Assad regime jet" had been hit over Idlib, but Syria's SANA denied it promptly, saying a Turkish drone had crashed over the town of Saraqeb in Idlib.

The Turkish defence ministry's Twitter post is the first confirmation of the downing of the drone. It also said three Syrian air defence systems had been destroyed in the retaliatory attack.

Amid the escalating tensions, the Syrian government closed the airspace over Idlib, with one official telling SANA that any aircraft "that violates our airspace will be treated as a hostile flight that must be shot down and prevented from achieving its objectives".

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