A passenger plane was almost shot down near Damascus today after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces fired a volley of missiles at Israeli jets. A Syrian Chams Airline Airbus A320 carrying 172 passengers made an emergency landing in Russia-controlled Khmeimim air base this morning after Syrian air defence nearly hit it, a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman told Russian state news agency RIA today. The Syrian air defence was trying to repulse an Israeli attack near Damascus, RIA said. 'The recourse to civilian aircraft as cover or to block a riposte by Syrian forces during military air operations has become characteristic of the Israeli air force,' the ministry charged. After the Syrian military fired an air defense missile, the Israeli military said a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries were also destroyed.

Source: Daily Mail February 07, 2020 08:02 UTC