Rebel fighters trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad shot down a fighter jet as it flew over the northern Syrian town of Atarib in Idlib province, a witness said.
The witness, an independent journalist who asked to remain anonymous, said rebel fighters were attacking a military base near the town when the jet flew over and rebels shot it down with anti-aircraft guns.
Vastly outgunned, rebels say they need surface-to-air missiles to take down planes and helicopters used by the Syrian military to bombard opposition strongholds.
Fighters use outdated anti-aircraft machine guns that are welded to pickup trucks but they are inaccurate and useless if the military aircraft fly above a certain altitude.
On August 27 fighters shot down a helicopter on the outskirts of Damascus and three days later rebels said they had brought down a jet in Idlib, near the Turkish border.
By: Brant
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2 comments:
The key here is WHAT did they use to bring it down. have they got genuine anti-aircraft capability or is it a lucky shot?
It says quite clearly in the article, that they used anti-aircraft guns, presumable the ones mounted on pickup trucks mentioned further down.
While AAG may include anything from a mounted 7.62 mm machine gun up to radar-guided auto cannons, its safe to assume, that these folks are not better equipped than the "rebel" hordes in Libya, ie. medium or heavy machine guns with iron sights, ie a lucky shot.
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