Two Syrian Jets Downed Over Idlib as Turkey Arms Jihadists with MANPADS

Syrian state media outlet SANA reported on March 1st that two fighter jets from the country’s Air Force had been shot down over Idlib province, amid an ongoing offensive to reclaim the area from Turkish backed jihadist militants. It has been reported that the Turkish Air Force, which frequently violates Syrian airspace and has engaged Syrian targets multiple times in the past, was responsible for the attack. Syrian and Russian combat jets flying over idlib have faced increasingly intense attacks from handheld surface to air missiles (MANPADS) operated by jihadist militias on the ground, which have reportedly been provided by Turkey. Idlib has been described in U.S. reports as the world’s largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 2001, and is the last major stronghold of jihadist insurgents in Syria.

The proliferation of MANPADS among militants in Idlib has led to some speculation that jihadist surface fire, rather than Turkish fighter jets, could have been responsible for the attacks on Syrian aircraft. A number of reports indicate that militants successfully downed a drone over Idlib earlier in the day - although this turned out to be an incident of friendly fire with the aircraft being operated by the Turkish military. The class of Syrian jets downed remains unconfirmed, with the country operating three classes of fighter (MiG-21, 23, 29), two classes of strike fighter (Su-22, 24) and one class of interceptor (MiG-25). MiG-23s appear to have carried out the majority of sorties over Idlib so far, and some unverified reports indicate at least one of the jets downed was a MiG-23.