The downing of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet earlier this month by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile resulted from a "professional error" by the crew, the Israeli military said on Sunday. It was the most serious confrontation yet between Israel and Iranian-backed forces in Syria. The chain of events began, Israel says, when an Iranian drone was launched from within Syria and crossed into Israeli airspace. It was shot down by an Apache helicopter, and Israel swiftly launched warplanes to target its mobile control ground station in Syria. A summary of the investigation released by the military said that the crew had chosen "to complete the mission and not defend themselves sufficiently.

Source: dna February 26, 2018 02:48 UTC