US-led coalition downs Syrian army jet – Damascus

The Syrian army said that the US-led coalition had shot down a Syrian army plane in the southern Raqqa countryside during a Syrian sortie against ISIS. State TV reported that the plane crashed and the pilot was missing. DEBKAfile reports that Syrian warplanes were in fact striking positions some 50km east of Damascus of rebel Syrian Democratic Forces which are trained and armed by the United States, when one of the jets was shot down. The question is whether US will defend the SDF when it is attacked in other parts of Syria, especially the southeast where the Syrian army and its pro-Iranian allies are making gains.