ISIS fighters shot down a military plane belonging to Assad regime in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, the group’s Amaq news agency reported on Sunday.
“A warplane belonging to the Assad regime was brought down when targeted by fighters from the Islamic State in the city of Deir Ezzor,” Amaq said in an online statement.
The jet came down in the Jebel Tharda area which overlooks the government’s Deir Ezzor military airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian crisis, said.
The observatory added that the pilot of the MiG warplane was killed.
A statement by Assad regime’s military said the plane had come down during an operation against ISIS in Deir Ezzor and the pilot had died.
On Saturday the U.S.-led coalition jets bombed a position for Assad regime forces at Jebel Tharda near Deir Ezzor airport on Saturday, killing dozens of Assad regime’s soldiers.
The US military said it may have unintentionally struck Assad regime’s troops while carrying out a raid against ISIS.
Read more: U.S.-led airstrikes kill dozens of Assad regime’s soldiers
The defense ministry in Russia said U.S. jets had killed more than 60 Assad regime’s soldiers in four air strikes by two F-16s and two A-10s coming from the direction of Iraq.
Islamic State said in a statement on its Amaq news channel that it had gained “complete control” over Jebel Tharda but both Syrian state television and Russian state media said the positions lost to the militant group were later recaptured.
However, on Sunday Syrian state news agency SANA reported that government troops had regained territory in the eastern province lost to fighters affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) “as a result of the American aircraft aggression”.
The Observatory said on Sunday the plane came down in the same area, which overlooks the government’s Deir Ezzor military airport.
The city’s airport and some government-held districts have been entirely surrounded by ISIS since last year, with the airport providing the only external access.
The Syrian crisis began as a peaceful demonstration against the injustice in Syria. Assad regime used to fire power and violence against the civilians and led to armed resistance. 450.000 Syrians lost their lives in the past five years according to UN estimates, and more than 12 million have lost their homes. Syria
