DAMASCUS / Syria/, March 1. /TASS/. Six Turkish combat drones have been destroyed by Syrian air defense systems, a source in the Syrian defense ministry said on Sunday.

"On March 1, 2020, Syrian air defense systems destroyed six combat unmanned aerial vehicles of the Turkish army over the Idlib de-escalation zone," the source said.

According to the source, the drone were delivering strikes on the positions of the Syrian government army to provide backing to terrorist groups.

He also told that Turkish F-16 fighter jets downed two warplanes of the Syrian Air Forces over the Idlib de-escalation zone.

"Turkish F-16 intruded Ayria’s airspace two times. They attacked and downed two planes of the Syrian Air Forces over the Idlib de-escalation zone. The pilots managed to eject themselves," the source said, adding that now they are in safety.

The source recalled that airspace over the Idlib de-escalation zone had been closed from March 1, 2020.

Turkey’s national defense ministry said on Sunday that two Syrian Su-24 fighter jets had been downed over Idlib. "Two Su-24 jets of the [Syrian President Bashar] Assad regime, which attacked our planes, have been downed," the ministry said.