Syrian plane crashes near Damascus, 2 killed

DAMASCUS, Oct 7 (Reuters) A small aircraft apparently used by the Syrian military crashed today near Damascus killing at least two people, witnesses said.

The plane came down in Muadamiet al-Sham district, 7 km west of Damascus, they said.

''The plane looked like a training aircraft. Two bodies were pulled from the wreckage,'' Mohammad Nasser, one of the witnesses, told Reuters. ''It came down among gardens and did not hit houses.'' Another witness saw a truck carrying the wreckage to the Mezzeh military airport. He said he saw no military markings on the plane.

The crash came at a time of heightened tension between Syria and Israel, which carried out an air strike deep inside Syrian territory on Sept 6. Both sides have given little information about the target.

REUTERS JK KN1653