By Fiona MacDonald and Zaid Sabah - 2012-08-13T22:08:06Z
The Syrian opposition said it shot down a government Mig-23 fighter jet on a bombing run over eastern Syria, which, if confirmed, would demonstrate a new rebel capability against the regime’s air power.
An alternative account came from the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, which said yesterday that the warplane crashed due to a “technical problem” during a training mission.
Video on Al Jazeera television from the Free Syrian Army showed what rebels said was the downing in flames of the MIG-23, and what they said was the captured pilot, who identified himself as Colonel Mufeed Mohamed Suleiman. The accounts couldn’t be verified.
Ziyad al-Amir, a spokesman for the rebels in the eastern city of Deir Ezzour, told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview that they will treat the pilot as a prisoner of war and his family shouldn’t be worried about his life.
The rebels may have captured anti-aircraft weapons from government arsenals or obtained them from outside sources. Earlier this month, NBC News reported that the Free Syrian Army had obtained about two dozen surface-to-air missiles delivered via neighboring Turkey.
Such weapons would give the rebels, who are mostly fighting with light weapons, a way to reduce their vulnerability to the increasing use of air power by forces loyal to Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.
[h=2]‘Despicable Up-tick’[/h]“We’ve seen a very troubling and despicable up-tick in attacks from the air perpetrated by the Syrian regime,” Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters today in Washington. He said the U.S. was unable to confirm the rebels’ claim of a shootdown.
A United Nations-arranged cease-fire, agreed to in April, has failed to halt fighting that’s killed more than 21,000 people, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syrian government forces killed 100 people yesterday, including 56 in Damascus and its suburbs, the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, said in an e-mailed statement.
“It is clear that violence is increasing in many parts of Syria,” Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye, head of the monitoring force, told journalists in Damascus yesterday. “The indiscriminate use of heavy weapons by the government and targeted attacks by the opposition in urban centers are inflicting a heavy toll on innocent civilians.”
The UN monitoring mission expires at the end of the week.
[h=2]No-Fly Zone[/h]A leader of rebel forces in Syria called on Aug. 12 for the creation of a no-fly zone to provide safe havens in border areas, as Assad’s forces stepped up attacks in cities including Homs and Aleppo. The president of the Syrian National Council, Abdelbaset Sieda, said such a move by the international community would show Syria’s leader that his opponents are serious, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul on Aug. 11 and warned of the growing tide of refugees from the conflict and the rising threat of terrorism. The two announced the creation of a working group to deal with threats emanating from the deteriorating regime, including the potential use of chemical weapons.
Foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation approved a measure yesterday recommending that Syria be suspended from the 57-nation group. The recommendation will go to leaders at the group’s summit later this week, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said in an interview from Jeddah yesterday.
[h=2]Ahmadinejad’s Comments[/h]The action will further isolate the Assad regime. Syria’s membership of the Arab League was suspended nine months ago.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday described the meeting as“an historic test for hosts and participants to protect the long-term goals, dignity and essential rights of Muslim nations.”
The regional situation is “a bit complicated,” the Islamic Republic News Agency cited Ahmadinejad as saying before he left Tehran. “Enemies use a significant portion of the energy of Muslim governments and groups for eliminating and damaging each other,” Ahmadinejad said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Fiona MacDonald in Kuwait at [email protected]; Zaid Sabah in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at [email protected]
Enlarge image
[h=3]Syrian Rebels Claim Warplane Shootdown, Which the Regime Denies[/h]
This image made from amateur video released by R.Y.E. Syria and accessed Monday Aug. 13, 2012, purports to show a Syrian plane downed over the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, Syria, Aug. 13, 2012.
This image made from amateur video released by R.Y.E. Syria and accessed Monday Aug. 13, 2012, purports to show a Syrian plane downed over the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, Syria, Aug. 13, 2012. Source: R.Y.E. Syria/AP Photo
The Syrian opposition said it shot down a government Mig-23 fighter jet on a bombing run over eastern Syria, which, if confirmed, would demonstrate a new rebel capability against the regime’s air power.
An alternative account came from the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, which said yesterday that the warplane crashed due to a “technical problem” during a training mission.
Video on Al Jazeera television from the Free Syrian Army showed what rebels said was the downing in flames of the MIG-23, and what they said was the captured pilot, who identified himself as Colonel Mufeed Mohamed Suleiman. The accounts couldn’t be verified.
Ziyad al-Amir, a spokesman for the rebels in the eastern city of Deir Ezzour, told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview that they will treat the pilot as a prisoner of war and his family shouldn’t be worried about his life.
The rebels may have captured anti-aircraft weapons from government arsenals or obtained them from outside sources. Earlier this month, NBC News reported that the Free Syrian Army had obtained about two dozen surface-to-air missiles delivered via neighboring Turkey.
Such weapons would give the rebels, who are mostly fighting with light weapons, a way to reduce their vulnerability to the increasing use of air power by forces loyal to Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.
[h=2]‘Despicable Up-tick’[/h]“We’ve seen a very troubling and despicable up-tick in attacks from the air perpetrated by the Syrian regime,” Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters today in Washington. He said the U.S. was unable to confirm the rebels’ claim of a shootdown.
A United Nations-arranged cease-fire, agreed to in April, has failed to halt fighting that’s killed more than 21,000 people, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syrian government forces killed 100 people yesterday, including 56 in Damascus and its suburbs, the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, said in an e-mailed statement.
“It is clear that violence is increasing in many parts of Syria,” Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye, head of the monitoring force, told journalists in Damascus yesterday. “The indiscriminate use of heavy weapons by the government and targeted attacks by the opposition in urban centers are inflicting a heavy toll on innocent civilians.”
The UN monitoring mission expires at the end of the week.
[h=2]No-Fly Zone[/h]A leader of rebel forces in Syria called on Aug. 12 for the creation of a no-fly zone to provide safe havens in border areas, as Assad’s forces stepped up attacks in cities including Homs and Aleppo. The president of the Syrian National Council, Abdelbaset Sieda, said such a move by the international community would show Syria’s leader that his opponents are serious, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul on Aug. 11 and warned of the growing tide of refugees from the conflict and the rising threat of terrorism. The two announced the creation of a working group to deal with threats emanating from the deteriorating regime, including the potential use of chemical weapons.
Foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation approved a measure yesterday recommending that Syria be suspended from the 57-nation group. The recommendation will go to leaders at the group’s summit later this week, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said in an interview from Jeddah yesterday.
[h=2]Ahmadinejad’s Comments[/h]The action will further isolate the Assad regime. Syria’s membership of the Arab League was suspended nine months ago.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday described the meeting as“an historic test for hosts and participants to protect the long-term goals, dignity and essential rights of Muslim nations.”
The regional situation is “a bit complicated,” the Islamic Republic News Agency cited Ahmadinejad as saying before he left Tehran. “Enemies use a significant portion of the energy of Muslim governments and groups for eliminating and damaging each other,” Ahmadinejad said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Fiona MacDonald in Kuwait at [email protected]; Zaid Sabah in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at [email protected]
Enlarge image
[h=3]Syrian Rebels Claim Warplane Shootdown, Which the Regime Denies[/h]
This image made from amateur video released by R.Y.E. Syria and accessed Monday Aug. 13, 2012, purports to show a Syrian plane downed over the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, Syria, Aug. 13, 2012. Source: R.Y.E. Syria/AP Photo