Syrian opposition claims to down Assad regime plane near Damascus

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Syrian opposition claims to down Assad regime plane near Damascus - Daily Sabah

Syrian opposition claims to down Assad regime plane near Damascus

ANADOLU AGENCY
DAMASCUS
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Syrian opposition factions on Friday said they had captured a Syrian regime pilot after downing his aircraft in the Qalamoun area in the northern countryside of Damascus, although regime officials say the plane crashed due to a technical error.
While Syria's official SANA news agency reported that the aircraft had crashed due to "technical reasons", the Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham -- two anti-regime opposition factions -- said via Twitter that the aircraft, a Russian-made Sukhoi 22, had been shot down by their forces on the ground.
Jaysh al-Islam has broadcast a video purportedly showing group members interrogating the pilot following his capture.
The group identified the pilot as Lieutenant Hasan Nawras from the city of Jableh in Syria's western Lattakia province.
Certain parts of Qalamoun continue to witness fierce fighting between Syrian regime forces and the Daesh terrorist group.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.
However, the Syrian Center for Policy Research, an NGO, has put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000.

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Syrian warplane crashes near Damascus, insurgents kill pilot
| Reuters

World | Fri Jul 1, 2016 8:53pm EDT Related: World, Syria
Syrian warplane crashes near Damascus, insurgents kill pilot






A Syrian warplane crashed northeast of Damascus on Friday and insurgents captured and killed its pilot, rebel and Syrian military sources said.
Syrian state media said the crash was due to a technical fault and the pilot had ejected. The rebel group Jaish al-Islam said it had shot down the plane, but did not say how.
The military source accused Jaish al-Islam of killing the pilot after he parachuted into an area controlled by the group. "This despicable crime carried out by what is called the terrorist Jaish al-Islam will not go unpunished," the source said.
Jaish al-Islam said the pilot was killed by a fighter from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front while being held at a joint command center. Jaish al-Islam had earlier said he would be handed over to them because they had shot down his plane.
Jaish al-Islam, which controls territory on the Syrian capital's eastern and northeastern outskirts, had earlier circulated a photo that it said showed the pilot.
"We call on the Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham to issue a statement explaining what happened and also call on them to hand over the pilot's body," a Jaish al-Islam statement said. Ahrar al-Sham is another large insurgent group.
Rebels shot down at least two warplanes earlier this year. The Syrian government said one of them had been downed by an anti-aircraft missile, but rebels said they had used anti-aircraft guns.
Foreign-backed rebels have long demanded anti-aircraft missiles to help them fight off air raids by Syrian and Russian forces. Russia has been a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and arms supplier in the civil war, now in its sixth year.
(Reporting by John Davison and Tom Perry; Editing by Janet Lawrence)