Syrian passenger plane flying from Moscow forced to land in Ankara

Turkey has scrambled fighter planes to force a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to land in Ankara and banned Turkish civilian aircraft from flying in Syrian airspace.

A Turkish foreign minister said the country has received intelligence that the Syrian plane was carrying “non-civilian” cargo.

Turkey’s civil aviation authority banned Turkish civilian aircraft from using Syrian airspace citing insecurity in its southern neighbour, state-run broadcaster TRT said.

Tensions between Turkey and Syria are running high.

Turkey’s armed forces have bolstered their presence along the 560-mile border and have been firing back over the past week in response to gunfire and shelling coming across from northern Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have been battling rebels who control swathes of territory.

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