Russia says passenger plane nearly shot down by Syrian forces, report says

Syrian forces on Thursday fired anti-aircraft missiles that narrowly missed a passenger plane carrying 172 passengers as it approached Damascus for a landing, a report said.

The Washington Post, citing Russia’ RIA Novosti, reported that the Airbus A320 was traveling from Tehran to Damascus.  Israeli fighter jets had fired at targets in the area.

In this photo released Feb. 5, 2020 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian government forces entering the village of Tel-Sultan, in Idlib province, northwest Syria. (SANA via AP)

The plane was diverted to a Russian military base, the report said.

“Only thanks to prompt actions of dispatchers at Damascus airport and effective work of the automated system of monitoring air traffic, the Airbus-320 was escorted from the danger zone and assisted in successfully landing at an aerodrome at the Russian air base Khmeimim,” Igor Konashenkov, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said, according to TASS.

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Last month, a Ukrainian jetliner was shot down by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, killing all 176 people aboar