2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown al-Nusra Front fighters. Russia has bombed the area near the Turkish border to support Syrian government forces. Syrian Turkmen formed their own armed brigades called Syrian Turkmen Brigades in opposition to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, loosely affiliated with other rebels such as the Free Syrian Army. The Turkmen brigades also cooperate with al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate the al-Nusra Front and with the Salafi coalition known as Ahrar al-Sham. In Latakia the Turkish-supported rebels formed the Jabal al-Turkman Brigade. On 24 November 2015 at 9:24 am, as it was returning to Khmeimim airbase, a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft with
Sukhoi Su-24 forces, split 321 with the Russian Air Force and 94 with the Russian Navy. The Russian Air Force will eventually replace the Su-24 with the Sukhoi Su-34. The Soviet Union used some Su-24s in the Soviet–Afghan War, with an initial round of strikes in 1984 and a second intervention at the end of the war in 1988. No Su-24 were lost. On October 13, 1990, Syrian Air Force jets entered Lebanese air space in order to strike General Michel Aoun's military forces. Seven Su-24 jets were used in this operation. During Operation Desert Storm, the Iraqi Air Force evacuated 24