Social media users said there was a large explosion in Huraytan, northern Syria. The Russian Embassy in London was not available for comment.
2852 Shares

Attack: There are rumours a Russian jet was downed by Turkey (file picture)
The Turkish military has blasted a Russian jet out of the sky after it violated its airspace, according to unconfirmed reports.

Social media users said there was a large explosion in Huraytan, northern Syria. The Russian Embassy in London was not available for comment.

Last week Turkey said its jets had intercepted a Russian fighter in its airspace and the prime minister threatened to shoot down any plane that strayed in future.

Two Turkish F-16s forced the plane back into Syrian airspace on Saturday and Ahmet Davutoglu called in the Russian ambassador to protest.


He said on TV: “The Turkish armed forces have their orders. The necessary will be done even if a bird violates Turkey’s border. Rules of engagement are clear.”

Russia said the plane had entered Turkey “by mistake” and assured Ankara it would not happen again. Putin's forces are currently supporting the Syrian regime by targeting President Bashir al-Assad's opponents, including ISIS.

Getty
Blast: A Syrian warplane after being hit by Turkish Air Forces near the Turkish border in Latakia, Syria, due to border violation on March 23, 2014
The US does not believe the violation was an error and officials held emergency talks.

Turkey also said that on Sunday an unidentified MIG-29 locked its radar on two of its F-16 fighters.

Also on Monday, Turkey’s military said a MIG-29 jet had harassed two Turkish F-16s for five minutes and 40 seconds on Sunday by locking its radar on to them.

The incident comes amid concerns over Russian air strikes in Syria against foreign-backed rebels.

The former chief of MI6, Sir John Sawers, has warned there was a “real danger” of clashes between Russian and coalition warplanes if they mount rival operations in the skies over Syria.

REUTERS
Explosion: Russian jets hitting a target in Syria
He told Radio 4: “It is going to be quite hard to continue this campaign unless there is a degree of military co-ordination between the Russians and the West.

“You can’t really have two air forces fighting different campaigns aimed at different objectives over the same territory without the real risk of a clash.”

And after a meeting with his US counterpart Ash Carter, UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon yesterday said Russian air and missile strikes in support of president Bashar Assad risked making “a grave situation even worse”.


Staggering sky-high footage shows Russian armed forces unleash bombing raid on ISIS
Meanwhile, at least 86 people were killed and 200 injured after two explosions in Ankara this morning, with unconfirmed reports they were caused by a suicide bomber.

Both of the explosions took place near the main train station at around 10am today, local time.

Turkish government officials say the blast was a terrorist attack, and are investigating claims a suicide bomber was responsible.

The blast occurred ahead of a planned "peace" march to protest against the conflict between the state and Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey.

It had been organised by unions and civil society groups, according to Turkish.