'Malaysian airliner shot down by missile'

Washington, July 18: The Malaysian passenger jet that crashed near the Ukraine-Russia border was shot down by missile, a senior US official said Thursday.

According to the official, a radar system saw a surface-to-air missile system turn on and track an aircraft right before Malaysian airliner MH17 was shot down, Xinhua reported.

A second system saw a heat signature at the time the airliner was hit, the official added.

The US is analysing the trajectory of the missile to try to learn where the attack came from but has not determined who was responsible, the CNN reported.

American intelligence agencies have confirmed that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile, The Washington Post quoted a US official as saying.

IANS