Jaysh Al Islam coalition claims to have shot down Russian military transport plane

photo ria.ru

Jaysh Al Islam, a militant group involved n the Syrian war, has taken credit for Tuesday’s crash of the Russian military transport plane Antonov-26 in Syria’s Hmeymim.

The grouping brought machine guns into action when the landidn plane was about 100 metres above the ground, the Lebanese newspaper Ad-Diyar says with reference to the statement by Jaysh Al Islam.

The attack was a response to the government forces’ operation in Eastern Ghouta.

According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, a technical problem could have been the cause of the crash which took lives of 39 people.

Jaysh Al Islam is a coalition of Islamist and Salafist units involved in the Syrian Civil War. The group is supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Jaysh Al Islam is fighting against both the Islamic State and al-Assad’s forces. In turn, the Syrian government qualifies it as a terrorist organization.

belsat.eu