ISTANBUL, Turkey: A Syrian air force pilot who bailed out as his warplane crashed on Turkish territory has been found by a Turkish rescue team and is being treated at a hospital in the Hatay region, a hospital spokeswoman said on Sunday.
Dogan news agency said the pilot, who crashed his plane on Sunday, had been found around 40 km (25 miles) from the wreckage. He was first taken to a gendarmerie base and then to hospital.
The hospital spokeswoman gave no details of his condition.
Syrian state television quoted an army source on Saturday saying the air force had lost contact with a fighter jet on a mission near the Turkish border. It gave no details.
It was unclear why the aircraft had crashed, whether it had been attacked or suffered technical failure.
Combat operations by many militia and government forces come close to Turkey’s long frontier with Syria.
Turkey has been one of the foremost critics of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and supports rebels fighting him in the country’s six-year-old war. It currently has armed forces involved in operations along the Syrian side of the frontier.
Syrian state media said on Saturday its forces had been expanding control over former Daesg-held villages in northwest Syria, an area close to Turkey’s Hatay region where the aircraft crashed.
The army’s gains follow a push to the south and east of the city of al-Bab, which was captured by Turkish-backed rebels late last month.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay)
Syrian pilot rescued in Turkey after plane crashes
Syrian pilot rescued in Turkey after plane crashes
Sudan paramilitary forces say regret deadly Chad border clash
- The RSF said it respected Chad’s sovereignty and internationally recognized borders and was committed to “continuing ongoing investigations” and “taking the necessary measures” to hold those responsible accountable
PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces expressed regret on Monday over what they described as “unintentional” clashes with Chadian troops along the border, after Chad said seven of its soldiers were killed in the incident.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the RSF said the clashes “resulted from an unintentional mistake during field operations” targeting forces from the Sudanese army who had entered from Chadian territory “to stir discord and then fled back” into Chad.
Sudan has been gripped by conflict since April 2023. Fighting between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 11 million.
Around one million Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad, according to the United Nations.
The RSF said it respected Chad’s sovereignty and internationally recognized borders and was committed to “continuing ongoing investigations” and “taking the necessary measures” to hold those responsible accountable.
Chad’s government had earlier blamed the RSF for the violence.
Government spokesman Gassim Cherif told a news conference that armed fighters from Sudan had crossed into Chad on Thursday, prompting a clash when Chadian troops ordered them to leave.
A government official later told AFP that the Sudanese fighters were “RSF elements.”
Sudan’s army has repeatedly accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying weapons to the RSF and hiring mercenaries routed through Chad, Libya, Kenya or Somalia — claims denied by Abu Dhabi.
Border tensions have risen since October, when the RSF seized El-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, prompting international condemnation over reports of mass killings, summary executions and systematic rape.
