Syrian opposition downs Assad regime warplane over Hama

By Burak Karacaoglu and Ashraf Musa

IDLIB, Syria

Syrian opposition fighters on Tuesday downed an Assad regime warplane in the eastern countryside of Hama province.

According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent in the nearby Idlib province, Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces in Idlib managed to strike the warplane while it was conducting airstrikes in Hama’s eastern countryside and on Idlib’s southern outskirts.

“A regime L-39 warplane was hit near the villages of Abu Dali and Al-Qaryatayn by antiaircraft batteries,” Mustafa al-Hussein, a spokesman for the FSA-affiliated Free Idlib Army, told Anadolu Agency.

Al-Hussein added that regime warplanes have been carrying out attacks in the same region for the last several days, resulting in numerous civilian casualties.

Photos of the warplane’s captured pilot -- the authenticity of which has yet to be confirmed -- have since been circulated on social-media platforms.