Rebels say they shot down Syria warplane near ceasefire zone

Rebel groups shoot down a Syrian government warplane on Tuesday near a ceasefire zone in the country’s south, the factions and a monitoring group say.

Two rebel groups that operate in southeast Syria, the Lions of the East Army and the Ahmad al-Abdo Forces, issue a joint statement on Tuesday saying they had downed the aircraft.

“The plane was shot down and crashed in regime-controlled territory. We have no information on the pilot,” says Fares al-Munjed, communications head for the Ahmad al-Abdo Forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor confirms that the rebel groups had hit the plane near a village on the administrative border between the provinces of Rural Damascus and Sweida.

Sweida province is part of a new ceasefire deal negotiated by the United States, Russia, and Jordan that went into effect on Sunday.

— AFP