The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday expressed its condolences over the crash of Russian Il-20 military aircraft in Syria, saying that Damascus was fully responsible for the incident.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2018) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday expressed its condolences over the crash of Russian Il-20 military aircraft in Syria, saying that Damascus was fully responsible for the incident.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said earlier that the Russian Hmeimim airbase had lost contact with the crew of the Russian Il-20 military aircraft at about 23:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday during the attack of four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian targets in the province of Latakia. The ministry said on Tuesday that the Israeli military deliberately created a dangerous situation by using the Russian aircraft as a shield against Syrian air defense systems. As a result, the Il-20 jet was downed by a missile launched by Syria's S-200 air defense system. The incident claimed lives of 15 Russian servicemen.
"Israel expresses sorrow for the death of the aircrew members of the Russian plane that was downed tonight due to Syrian anti-aircraft fire. Israel holds the Assad regime, whose military shot down the Russian plane, fully responsible for this incident," the IDF wrote in Twitter.
The Israeli military added that it also held "Iran and the Hezbollah terror organization accountable for this unfortunate incident."
The IDF admitted that its fighters had carried out strikes on a facility of Syrian targets.
"Overnight, IDF fighter jets targeted a facility of the Syrian Armed Forces from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon. These weapons were meant to attack Israel, and posed an intolerable threat against it," the IDF said.
The Israeli military noted that it had notified the Russian side about the strikes using the exiting "deconfliction system."
"Israel will share all the relevant information with the Russian Government to review the incident and to confirm the facts in this inquiry," the IDF said.
