Moscow: A Russian passenger plane on Monday escaped a tragedy after two rockets exploded near the plane within the Syrian airspace.
According to reports, two missiles were fired at a Russian passenger plane flying over Syrian territory with 200 people onboard, an informed source in Moscow told the Russian media.
“Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning, unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline,” the source told the Russian agency.
The pilots managed to maneuver the plane in time however, “saving the lives of passengers.”
It is believed the aircraft was intentionally targeted in the attempted strike, “but it remains unclear whether the attackers knew whether it was Russian or not,” the source added.
Meanwhile, Syrian aviation authorities received no indication of the alleged attack on the Russian plane,says the director of Syrian Airlines, Ghaida Abdullatif:
“We contacted the service that monitors traffic within Syrian airspace. None of the air traffic control services or other ground services at the airports in Damascus and Latakia have confirmed the information of a Russian plane plane being fired at”.
The civil war in Syria between the government of President Bashar Assad and opposition forces has been raging for over two years, claiming the lives of more than 70,000 people according to UN estimates. Assad says he is fighting an insurgency which has been sponsored from abroad.
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