Syrian opposition fighters on Monday shot down a government fighter jet, but state television said the plane crashed due to technical difficulties.

The downing of a warplane would be a rare event for lightly armed rebels faced with the superior weaponry of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

The state news channel Syria TV said the plane crashed due to technical problems.

An amateur video posted on YouTube by activists and marked with a logo reading: “The revolutionary youth from the land of the Euphrates,” shows a fighter jet apparently being hit, after the sound of heavy fire is heard.

A ball of fire erupts from the plane, followed by a trail of smoke. The jet continues to fly, as it appears the plane has been hit in the tail.

“Allahu Akbar! (God is greatest),” cries an unidentified man. “A MiG plane has been hit in the town of Muhasen,” in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

If confirmed, it would be the first time that the rebels have succeeded in downing a Syrian plane and suggests they have probably acquired ground-to-air missiles.

In recent months the government has begun to use its air power to try to crush a 17-month-old uprising.

Meanwhile, Syrian Free Army say they've captured the pilot of a government warplane. 

The Syrian Free Army issued a video that reportedly shows a man identified as pilot Mufid Mohammed Suleiman, surrounded by three armed men.

The man reportedly says he has been treated well and urges Syrian government forces to defect from President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The regime army advanced on Monday into a new rebel-held area of the country’s second city Aleppo, days after it seized control of the neighboring district of Salaheddin, a monitoring group said.

“With tanks, Syria’s regime forces have stormed the west of the district of Saif al-Dawla,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “They are now clashing with the rebels, and parts of Salaheddin are being shelled.”