- Mar 4, 2017 17H:58 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
- Middle East
GETTY IMAGES
A plane believed to be a Syrian military aircraft has crashed near the border between Syria and Turkey, Turkish officials say.
A Syrian army source also told state television the air force had lost contact with a fighter jet on a mission near the border.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it was a MiG-23 warplane.
He said a search was under way for the pilot, who was believed to have ejected.
An Islamist group which is fighting the Syrian government tweeted a video it said showed a plane being "targeted".
Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu quoted a spokesman for the Islamist group Ahrar-al_sham, Ahmed Karaali, saying the regime plane was allegedly bombing Idlib province in northern Syria when it was shot down by opposition forces.
Mr Yildirim said the plane had crashed near the town of Samandag in Hatay province.
Hatay governor Erdal Ata told Anadolu that rescue teams had arrived at the wreckage and reported that the cockpit was empty.
Mr Yildirim said it was not clear why the plane had crashed. "It may be due to weather conditions," Reuters quoted him as saying.
Turkey supports rebel forces in Syria, which oppose the government of Bashar al-Assad. Turkish military forces operate on the Syrian side of the border.
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