Turkey shoots down drone at border with Syria

The Lebanon-based pro-Syrian Al-Mayadeen TV quoted an unidentified Syrian military official as saying that no Syrian or Russian warplane or drone was shot down over Turkey.

“Whose this downed drone is, you either guess or find out yourselves”, the general said.

The Turkish military says it has shot down a drone that crossed into its airspace from Syria.

It says the unpiloted drone received three warnings and then was shot down.

Turkey shot down a drone on Friday in an incident highlighting the dangers of multiple air combat operations over Syria, where government troops and their allies backed by Russian jets have launched an offensive against rebels near Aleppo.

For its part, the BBC said that drones are also used in this area by troops of the U.S.-led coalition, Syria and Russian Federation.

Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian defense ministry, told Russian news agencies Friday that all Russian jets have safely returned to their base and all Russian drones “are functioning normally”.

The Aleppo offensive is the fourth that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has launched since Moscow began an air campaign on September 30.

The assault means the army is now pressing insurgents on several fronts near Syria’s main cities in the west, control of which would secure Assad’s hold on power even if the east of the country is still held by Islamic State.

Putin said the Russian air campaign against the Islamic State group and other radicals in Syria will continue “for the period of the Syrian troops’ offensive operations against terrorists”.

Control of Aleppo, still home to two million people, is divided between the government and rebels.

Activists in central Syria posted online videos showing what they said were heavy air raids on areas in northern Homs.

“The army managed to advance into Abteen and western Hadadine”, the source said, referring to two towns located about 15 kilometers south of Aleppo city, the capital of the province of the same name.

Earlier on Friday, the Observatory said that at least 60 people, including 30 children and women, were killed in Russian and Syrian airstrikes on rebel-held areas in the central province of Homs. Both villages lie close to Jebel Azzan. They have so far met stiff resistance from rebels using U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles that have impeded any swift breakthroughs, although they have seized a few villages from rebels in the past week.

Syrian forces have also sought to reinforce the coastal province of Latakia, a regime stronghold, fighting rebels in the north of the province.