Russia bombards Syrian rebels near site of downed Russian jet
The surviving pilot of a Russian plane shot down by Turkey on the Syrian border has said no warning was given.
Capt Konstantin Murakhtin told Russian television there was “no way” the jet could have violated Turkish airspace, as Turkey said it did.
Russia said Capt Murakhtin was rescued in a 12-hour operation involving special forces.
Turkey insists the pilots were warned 10 times before the plane was shot down.
It is not clear what happened to the body of his co-pilot, who was killed by gunfire as he parachuted from the burning plane.
Capt Murakhtin was speaking from the Hmeymim airbase, where Russia’s aircraft have been based in its Syrian campaign, and where he was taken after being rescued.
Meanwhile, Russian forces launched a heavy bombardment against insurgent-held areas in Syria’s Latakia province on Wednesday, near where a Russian warplane had been shot down by Turkey the day before, rebels and a monitoring group said.
At least 12 air strikes hit Latakia’s northern countryside as pro-government forces clashed with fighters from al Qaeda’s Nusra Front and Turkmen insurgents in the Jabal Akrad and Jabal Turkman areas, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
A Turkmen commander said missiles fired from Russian warships in the Mediterranean were also hitting the area, as well as heavy artillery shelling.
Hassan Haj Ali, the head of Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, a rebel group operating in western Syria, also said there were fierce battles in the area, with Russian aircraft supporting pro-government forces.
