DAMASCUS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian rebels shot down a Syrian warplane over the Syrian desert near the capital Damascus on Monday, the Saudi-funded Alarabiya TV reported.
The foreign-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) announced it shot down a warplane in the Dakweh area in the countryside of Damascus, said the report, adding that the rebels were searching for the pilot.
The official Syrian media has yet to confirm the report.
Dakweh and other FSA positions in the Syrian Desert have been the target of the Russian air force and the Syrian army, which is advancing in the desert to secure a triangle of border areas between Iraq, Syria and Jordan.
The main aim of the military campaign in the Syrian desert is against the Islamic State (IS) group and other rebel group to secure the borders with Iraq.
The U.S. struck a convoy of the Syrian army last month as it was reaching close to the Tanf border crossing with Iraq. The U.S., Britain and the FSA are positioned in Tanf, and the Syrian army progress in that area seems like a redline to Washington.
The U.S.-backed rebels said that their forces came under Russian airstrikes as they were attempting to thwart the advance of the Syrian army in the Syrian desert.
