The L-39 was shot down near the city of Maraat en-Nuuman. The TuAF F-16 fighter did not enter Syrian airspace.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said on Twitter that on Mar. 3, 2020, a warplane of the Syrian government forces had been shot down by a missile fired by a Turkish Air Force (TuAF) F-16 Fighting Falcon in the course of a Turkish-led military offensive launched in northwest Syria to push back the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, Reuters says.
The ministry described the downed jet as an L-39 warplane. One crew member was killed while the second one was ejected and was saved by the Syrian Army. The Syrian state news agency SANA separately reported that Turkish forces had targeted a Syrian warplane.
The L-39 was shot down near the city of Maraat en-Nuuman. The TuAF F-16 fighter did not enter Syrian airspace.
Syrian air defense systems made no attempt to hit a Turkish combat aircraft, which raises a number of doubts about how effectively the Syrian military controls airspace on the border with Turkey.
The L-39 is the third Syrian warplane shot down by TuAF F-16s since Sunday. On Mar. 1, two Su-24 attack aircraft were shot down by Turkish Fighting Falcons in response to the downing of a Turkish drone over the Idlib region.
