Syrian military jet 'shot down'

A Syrian military jet has been shot down by rebel groups, according to a monitoring group.

The plane was reportedly struck with two heat-seeking missiles by the Ahrar al-Sham group as it flew above a village in central Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The first missile missed but the second one struck the plane," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. 

However pro-government Facebook page said the MiG-21 warplane fell due to "technical difficulties".

The Facebook group suggested the pilot had "managed to eject safely" and was rescued by Syrian government forces.

Syrian military jets have been targeted and taken down on a number of occasions by militants in recent years.

In January 2015, the Islamic State group shot down a regime aircraft over Damascus province, killing the pilot.