Israeli army blames Damascus for Russia’s Il-20 downing, mourns death of crew – statement
Israel has blamed the Syrian government for the downing of the Russian Il-20 military plane in Latakia province, according to an IDF statement.
Israel said that it "expresses sorrow for the death of the aircrew members” of the Russian plane. However, it stated that the government of Bashar Assad “whose military shot down the Russian plane,” is “fully responsible” for the incident. Israel also put the blame for the “unfortunate incident” on Iran and the Hezbollah group.
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.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) September 18, 2018
In a series of tweets the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) explained that its jets were targeting a Syrian facility “from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon.” It claimed that the weapons were “meant to attack Israel.”
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.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) September 18, 2018
The IDF assumed that the Syrian anti-air batteries “fired indiscriminately” and didn’t “bother to ensure that no Russian planes were in the air.” The Israelis said that when the Syrian military launched the missiles which hit the Russian plane, its own jets were already within Israeli airspace. "During the strike against the target in Latakia, the Russian plane that was then hit was not within the area of the operation."
According to the Israeli military, both IDF and Russia have “a deconfliction system,” which was agreed upon by the leadership of both states, and “has proven itself many times over recent years.” The system was in use when the incident happened, the IDF stated. The IDF promised to share “all the relevant information” with Russia “to review the incident and to confirm the facts in this inquiry.”
The military presented a four-point initial inquiry into events in Latakia. It insisted that “extensive and inaccurate” Syrian anti-aircraft fire caused the Russian jet “to be hit and downed.”
The Russian Il-20 aircraft, with 15 crew on board, went off radar during an attack by four Israeli jets on Syria’s Latakia province late Monday. Later on Tuesday the Russian Defense Ministry said that an Israeli raid on Syria triggered a chain of events that led to its plane being shot down by a Syrian S-200 surface-to-air missile.
According to the ministry, on Monday evening four Israeli F-16 fighter jets attacked targets in Latakia after approaching from the Mediterranean. The Israeli warplanes approached at a low altitude and “created a dangerous situation for other aircraft and vessels in the region,” it said. The Il-20 plane was in the area during the Israeli operation.
“The Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defense forces. As a consequence, the Il-20, which has radar cross-section much larger than the F-16, was shot down by an S-200 system missile,” the statement said, adding that the crew died as a result.
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