ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities have arrested a Syrian air force pilot whose plane crashed on Turkish soil last month on charges of espionage and violation of border security, Turkish state-run media reported.

The 56-year-old pilot, identified as Mehmet Sufhan, had bailed out as his warplane crashed on March 4. He had told Turkish authorities that his aircraft was shot down on its way to strike rural areas near Idlib in northern Syria.

The arrest came hours after the U.S. military strikes on Syrian military positions.