DAMASCUS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army said Israel targeted a Syrian warplane that was striking positions of terrorist groups in southern Syria Tuesday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

The warplane was struck while hitting the positions of the ultra-radical rebels in the town of Saida on the outskirts of the Yarmouk basin area in the western countryside of Daraa near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The report noted that the warplane was flying inside the Syrian airspace.

The report has yet to divulge the fate of the warplane.?