Syrian rebels claim to shoot down fighter jet

Syrian rebels say they have downed a fighter jet from Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces, while state-run media says the plane malfunctioned and the pilot was forced to eject.

The Associated Press reported that Syrian rebels released a video shown on Al Arabiya depicting what they said was the captured pilot from the downed MiG fighter jet.

The Free Syrian Army said it shot the plane down in the Eastern part of Syria near the Iraqi border, according to the BBC, and a video was posted to YouTube showing the plane catching fire.

The Syrian state-run media organization Sana, however, said that the crash happened after the plane had problems with its "control mechanisms," according to the BBC.

If the rebels did shoot down the fighter, it would deal a blow to Assad’s forces who have used airpower to bombard the opposition in Aleppo with attack helicopters and fighter jets.

The Obama administration last week said it would not rule out establishing a no-fly zone in Syria as the air assault intensified, while reports surfaced that rebels had obtained anti-aircraft weapons.

Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters Monday that Assad’s use of airpower “needs to stop,” though he declined to comment specifically on a no-fly zone.

“There has been a very troubling and despicable uptick" in Syrian forces using airpower against rebels, Little said.

Little could not confirm the whether the Syrian fighter had been shot down.

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