New Wave of Tensions Erupts among Terrorists in Northwestern Syria

The Arabic-language al-Manar tv network reported that the Al-Nusra has put a large number of its forces on alert in Idlib countryside, adding that the Al-Nusra is planning to attack Faylaq al-Sham that is said to have handed over the body of the Russian pilot.

Al-Nusra said that it intended to hold the body of the Russian pilot to enter talks with Russia for the release of its captives.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that the Su-25 had been downed by a MANPAD portable surface-to-air missile within an area controlled by Al-Nusra Front in Idlib. The pilot managed to eject from the jet, but was killed during a fight on the ground with the terrorists.

The Russian Defense Ministry stated that more than 30 militant had been killed as a result of the Russian forces’ high precision strike in the area from where the MANPAD projectile had been launched.

Commenting on the attack on a Russian aircraft, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated earlier in the day that Moscow had been extremely concerned that terrorists in Syria possessed MANPADS.