Activists: US-backed Syrian opposition down regime warplane

BEIRUT: Activists say US-backed Syrian opposition have shot down a regime warplane in the southeast, with the fate of the pilot still unknown.

The downing of the plane on Monday came after days of clashes between government forces and US-backed rebels in eastern Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the warplane was shot down by the “Eastern Lions” rebel group and crashed in an area called Tel Dakweh.

Mozahem Al-Salloum, of the activist-run Hammurabi Justice News network, said the warplane was a Russian-made MiG and that a search is underway for the pilot.