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1st LD: Pentagon says U.S.-led counter-IS campaign neither involved nor affected by Turkey's downing of Russian plane

Xinhua, November 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Pentagon said on Tuesday the U.S.-led campaign against the extremist group Islamic State (IS) was neither affected by nor involved in Turkey's downing of Russian plane.

"This is an incident between the Russian and the Turkish government. It is not an issue that involves the Combined Joint Task Force or Operation Inherent Resolve," said Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S-led military campaign against the IS, also known as ISIL.

"Our combat operations against ISIL continue as planned and we are striking both Iraq and Syria," said Warren at the Pentagon briefing.

Earlier Tuesday, a Russian Su-24 crashed in Syria "allegedly because of gunfire from the ground," said Russian Defense Ministry.

According to the Turkish military, the Su-24 had been warned 10 times in five minutes about its violation of Turkish airspace, before two Turkish F-16 jets "interfered."

But Moscow said the plane was shot down in Syria's territory.

According to the latest statement released by Russia's Defense Ministry, the Su-24 was shot down by a Turkish F-16 jet while returning to Syria's Hmeimim airbase, where a Russian airforce group for anti-terrorist strikes is located. Endit