Militants claim to have shot down Syria jet

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the warplane was shot down on the southern edge of Idlib province.

Idlib: Syrian opposition activists reported on Wednesday that a government warplane was shot down by rebels in the area, adding that the fate of the pilot was not immediately clear.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the warplane was shot down on the southern edge of Idlib province.

Activist Taher al-Omar, who has close links with militants, said it was a Russian-made SU-22.

The Ibaa news agency, the media arm of the main al-Qaida-linked group in northwestern Syria, posted photos and video of what it said was the crashed warplane, with pieces of charred and still smoking wreckage lying in a field.

Pro-government media websites said a technical problem caused the crash.

Syrian troops have been on the offensive against rebel strongholds in the north of Hama province and the southern districts of Idlib since April 30.

The three-month campaign of airstrikes and shelling has killed more than 2,000 people on both sides and displaced some 400,000.