Israeli airforce chief to present findings of Syria incident: Israeli military

Thomson Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's airforce chief, Major-General Amikam Norkin, will fly to Moscow on Thursday to present Israel's findings after an incident in which a Russian military plane was downed, Israel's military said.

The Israeli military on Tuesday blamed Syria for the downing of a Russian plane, saying that Syrian anti-aircraft batteries "fired indiscriminately" and "did not bother" to ensure that no Russian planes were in the air.

"The commander of the IAF and the delegation will present the situation report of the event regarding all aspects, including the pre-mission information and the findings of the IDF inquiry regarding the event," part of the army statement said.

Israel's military said on Tuesday that its fighter jets had "targeted" a Syrian facility that it said was about to transfer weapons to Hezbollah on behalf of Iran, but that when the Russian plane was downed, the Israeli jets "were already within Israeli airspace".

(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Alison Williams)

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