Russian military aircraft with 14 on board inadvertently shot down by Syrian artillery -report

Syrian government anti-aircraft artillery inadvertently shot down a Russian military patrol aircraft with a number of personnel on board after the Syrians came under attack by Israeli missiles, according to a US official, quoted by CNN.

The broadcaster said the US official with knowledge of the incident said the regime was actually trying to stop a barrage of Israeli missiles.

A second official had confirmed Israel was responsible for the missile strikes on the Syrian regime.

CNN said the Russian state news agency TASS reported that a Russian IL-20 military aircraft with 14 personnel on board disappeared over the Mediterranean on Monday.

According to TASS, the ministry of defence specified that "the mark of IL-20 went off the radars disappeared during the attack of four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian targets in the province of Latakia".

The Israelis had fired multiple missiles against targets in the coastal area of Latakia where Russia has based much of its military presence, including aircraft.

In an attempt to strike back against the Israelis, the Syrians launched extensive anti-aircraft fire, the official said and the Russian aircraft was hit.

An Israel Defence Forces spokesman declined to comment on the reports.

CNN recounted that in February, the two-man crew of an Israeli F-16 ejected from their aircraft when a missile exploded near them, damaging their aircraft as they finished conducting a mission against Syrian forces.

An Israeli defence official told CNN earlier this month that Israel has struck Syria 200 times in the past 18 months to prevent the deployment of Iranian weapons in the region.