WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States believed that the Russian aircraft that went missing on Monday over the Mediterranean had been mistakenly shot down by Syrian forces, U.S. media reported on Monday citing a U.S. official with knowledge of the incident.

A Russian aircraft with 14 servicemen on board went off radar near the Hmeymim airbase in Syria Monday evening and the Hmeymim airbase has launched a search and rescue operation for the missing aircraft, said the Russian Defense Ministry in a statement.

The Russian maritime patrol aircraft was accidentally shot down by the Syrian government's anti-aircraft artillery when they were fighting against missile attacks, reported CNN citing an anonymous U.S. official.

Earlier on Monday, Syrian media reported a missile attack on the Syrian city of Latakia.

The Syrian government has yet to name the party behind the attack but the state TV was pointing to Israel as the perpetrator.

Sean Robertson, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, told reporters on Monday that it was not the U.S. military which fired the missiles.