More than two dozen dead after a Syrian government warplane crashes in Idlib province

AUGUST 3, 2015

A Syrian government warplane has crashed in a marketplace in the north-western town of Ariha, killing at least 23 people, activists say. 

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) activist group said the crash occurred amid bombing raids.

Ariha was one of the last government strongholds in Idlib when it was captured by Islamist rebels in May.

The fall of Ariha left most of Idlib province, bordering Turkey, in rebel hands.

Search for survivors

The SOHR said dozens more had been injured in the incident. It is not clear whether the plane was shot down or crashed for another reason.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), a network of opposition activists, posted an image online of what it said was the aftermath of the crash, showing huge damage to the marketplace and surrounding buildings.

It said people were working to find survivors under the rubble and remove bodies.

"The plane had dropped a bomb on the main bazaar street at low altitude only seconds before it crashed," Ghazal Abdullah, a resident close to the incident told Reuters.

Idlib is now mostly in the hands of the Jaish al-Fateh (Army of Conquest) rebel alliance that includes the al-Qaeda offshoot Nusra Front.

Idlib has borders with Turkey to the north and the Syrian province of Latakia to the west. Latakia is the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.
Government forces have been fighting rebels in mountainous parts of Latakia, trying to prevent them reaching key coastal areas.

In January Syrian officials said at least 35 soldiers were killed in a cargo plane crash in Idlib province.

State media blamed that crash on "weather conditions and heavy fog" but al-Nusra rebels, linked to al-Qaeda, said they had shot down the cargo plane.

Date:	03-AUG-2015
Time:
Type:	fighter jet
Owner/operator:	Syrian Arab Air Force
Registration:
C/n / msn:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	26
Airplane damage:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	Ariha, Idlb -   Syria
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:

Narrative:
The military plane crashed into a civilian populated area during a bombing run.
There are at least 27 fatalities
Sources: 
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=178250 http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/syria-army-plane-crashes-while-bombing-rebel-held-town
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33757846
Reuters