DAMASCUS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- A Syria warplane crashed over a town southeast of the capital Damascus overnight, a monitoring group reported on Friday.
The war jet crashed over the town of Bir al-Qasab in the southeastern countryside of Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
It added that preliminary information suggests the warplane was downed by the Islamic State (IS) militants, which led to the death of its pilot.
Meanwhile, the UK-based watchdog group said intense clashes are raging between the Syrian troops and al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Damascus' eastern suburb of Jobar amid government forces' shelling against the tense neighborhood.
The Syrian crisis has been dragging on since nearly four years ago with no sign of abating.
Political efforts have recently been exerted by Russia to bring the government and the opposition around the negotiation table in Moscow in the hope of paving the way for ending the conflict politically.
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