ISIS Shoots Down Syrian Warplane Over Eastern City, Killing Pilot

The Syrian military has confirmed that one of their warplanes has been shot down over the area of Jebel Tharda, on the outskirts of the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor. The plane was part of a group bombing ISIS targets around the city when it was shot down.

ISIS has claimed credit for the attack, saying they’d targeted the plane, which was flying out of Deir Ezzor Airport, and had shot it down. They also claimed to have killed the pilot, though it’s unclear if he died in the crash or was killed later on the ground.

The plane went down in Jebel Tharda, overlooking the strategically important airport, in an area near a Syrian Army base which ISIS captured only yesterday, after the US-led coalition accidentally repeatedly bombed the base for over 20 minutes, killing some 83 soldiers, and wounding over 100 others.

The Syrian airstrikes appear to have picked up around Deir Ezzor since the US blunder, likely trying to slow the ISIS advance and to prevent them from getting any closer and rendering the airport itself useless. ISIS has repeatedly attacked the airport in the past few years, but so far has failed to take it.