Syrian fighter jet lands in Jordan

A Syrian air force Russian-made MiG, which was reported missing by Syrian state TV on Thursday afternoon amid reports that its pilot had defected to Jordan, made an emergency landing at a military base in the neighboring country, reports AFP. The Jordanian minister of state for information, Samih al-Maaytah, confirmed that the pilot has asked for asylum. Reuters quoted him saying: "He requested political asylum in Jordan. He is being debriefed at the moment." The Al Jazeera news network claimed there was a co-pilot present as well. Military analysts estimate Syria has 140 MiG 21 in service. “The Syrian air force Russian-made MiG made an emergency landing at the King Hussein air base in Mafraq,” in northern Jordan near the border with Syria, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity, without elaborating. Syrian state television said communication was lost with a plane of the same model at 10:34am while it was on a training mission near the southern border with Jordan. The Syrian National Council claims the pilot had defected but there was no official confirmation of such reports. Activists said this was the first defection involving an aircraft since the start of the 15-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. More than 120,000 Syrians fleeing the violence in their homeland have taken refuge in Jordan, according to the Amman government. The United Nations has registered 20,000 of them. More than 15,000 people have been killed in the Syrian uprising, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday.