ISIS Shoots Down Warplane in Southern Syria

Plane Was Incorrectly Previously Reported as Russian

by Jason Ditz,

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian military jet was shot down near the city of Suwayda, along the nation’s southern border with Jordan. ISIS shot the plane down near a military airport, and the pilot is believed to have survived.

Initial reports falsely claimed the plane was a Russian plane, and that the pilots had been captured, though Russia was quick to dismiss this claim, insisting their planes were all accounted. for.

This is the latest in a series of warplanes shot down in Syria, mostly by ISIS. It is unclear what sort of weapon was used, but the US has imported significant numbers of anti-aircraft weapons, ideally for “moderate” rebels, but which have been spread around to virtually all factions.

The CIA is said to be planning a massive new influx of such weapons as soon as the current ceasefire collapses, once again assuring that the weapons will only go to “vetted moderates.” It is worth noting, however, that materially all shootdowns have been by clearly unvetted Islamist groups.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/04/14/isis-shoots-down-warplane-in-southern-syria/