Turkish F-16 fighter jets shoot down L-39 aircraft over Idlib

Turkish F-16 fighter jets have shot down a Syrian L-39A Albatros warplane over Idlib.

According to several media reports, the Syrian Defence Ministry source confirmed that Turkish F-16s had violated Syrian airspace in Idlib and shot down L-39 Syrian Air Force aircraft on Tuesday.

In social media also was posted some footage showed the plane in flame after the missile attack.

Turkish Ministry of Defense also confirmed that SyAAF L-39 shot down as they attempted to attack Turkish position near Idlib.

The official Twitter account of the Turkish Defence Ministry tweeted that an L-39 fighter had been downed by Turkish forces over Idlib during the ongoing ‘Operation Spring Shield’.

Turkey launched a fresh Syria operation in the wake of the recent regime attack on Turkish troops in Idlib, said the country’s defense chief on Sunday.

“Operation Spring Shield”, which was launched following the heinous attack [on Turkish troops] on Feb. 27 is successfully being carried out,” Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said as he is commanding the operation from Turkey’s southern Hatay province, bordering Syria.

On the details of the operation, Akar said a drone, eight helicopters, 103 tanks, 19 armored personnel carriers, 72 cannons/howitzers/multiple rocket launchers, three air-defense systems, 15 anti-tanks/mortars, 56 armored vehicles, nine ammunition depots and 2,000 regime soldiers and elements have been neutralized so far.

The operation was launched after at least 34 Turkish soldiers were martyred and dozens of others injured late Thursday in an airstrike by Assad regime forces in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, just across Turkey’s southern border.