Turkish forces are said to have shot down a Russian jet after it flew into the country’s airspace, The Daily Mail said quoting unconfirmed reports on social media.
It has been claimed by eyewitnesses that there was a large explosion in Huraytan, northern Syria, while three fighter planes were seen overhead.
Rumours of a jet being shot out of the sky come amid heightening tensions between Russian president Vladimir Putin and the West.
The Russians are supposed to be bombing ISIS targets, but it seems the majority of their missiles are hitting areas where the extremist group is not present.
U.S. officials said this week that Russia – a key ally of Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad – has directed parts of its air campaign against U.S.-funded and other moderate opposition groups in a concerted effort to weaken them.
However, Russia has claimed its forces hit 55 ISIS targets in Syria in the 24 hours to Saturday – although Putin’s jets were also a key factor in helping Syrian troop to seize a village in the centre of the country which was not ISIS-controlled.
The Russians – who have announced plans to increase the number of strikes against ISIS targets – have also clashed with Turkey, after one of their bombers violated Turkish airspace.
But neither side has yet said whether rumours of another of Russia’s planes was shot down in a separate confrontation.
According to reports, one journalist tweeted that three Turkish planes had been responding to ‘mysterious’ lock-ons from MIG-29 jets, which are used by Putin’s forces.
MailOnline has approached both the Russian and Turkish authorities for a comment.A spokesman for Nato said it had so far received no reports of a plane being shot down.
