"NATO faced being thrust into a new Middle Eastern crisis on Tuesday after warplanes from
member state Turkey shot down a Russian jet that Turkish officials said had violated their country’s airspace on the border with Syria.
The incident marked a serious escalation in the Syrian conflict that is likely to further strain relations between Russia and the NATO alliance.
Russian officials confirmed that a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft was shot down Tuesday morning but insisted it had not violated Turkey’s airspace.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said one of at least two pilots probably died during the incident, and a marine also was killed by apparent Syrian insurgent fire during a helicopter rescue operation to retrieve the downed airmen.
The incident marked a serious escalation in the Syrian conflict that is likely to further strain relations between Russia and the NATO alliance.
Russian officials confirmed that a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft was shot down Tuesday morning but insisted it had not violated Turkey’s airspace.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said one of at least two pilots probably died during the incident, and a marine also was killed by apparent Syrian insurgent fire during a helicopter rescue operation to retrieve the downed airmen.
The downing brings renewed attention to a scenario feared for months by the Pentagon and its partners: a potential conflict arising from overlapping air missions over Syria — with Russia backing the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a U.S.-led coalition conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State." WP
No comments:
Post a Comment