103 Dead as Rebels Shoot Down Syrian Warplane and Army Advances in Aleppo
A group of Syrian rebels said they captured the pilot of a warplane that the Free Syrian Army claimed to have downed Monday in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, as authorities said the fighter jet crashed due to technical problems.
A video distributed by the "Revolutionary Youth of the Land of the Euphrates" shows a man identified as pilot Mufid Mohammed Suleiman, surrounded by three armed men. "My mission was to bomb the town of Muhasen" in Deir Ezzor, said the man.
The man, who has a light beard and is wearing a dark blue shirt, is seated at a table. "The wounds on my face were caused by the strong wind that forced me on to stones after I ejected from my plane," he said.
"The revolutionaries have treated me well and they gave me first aid assistance," he added. "They are good people."
In the same video, a captain in uniform introduced himself as Abul Laith, chief of the Ahfad Mohammed (Mohammed's Descendants) Brigade. "We will treat this prisoner in accordance with our religion and our ethics and the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners."
The rebel Free Syrian Army confirmed that opposition fighters downed a military warplane in Deir Ezzor province.
"Yes, we can confirm that a MiG 21 has been downed," said FSA spokesman Kassem Saadeddine. "It was hit with a 14.5 caliber anti-aircraft machinegun."
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also backed the claim.
Meanwhile, the official SANA news agency said "a military plane encountered technical problems during a routine training mission in the east."
"The pilot ejected and searches are now under way to find him," it added.
But an amateur video posted on YouTube by activists and marked with a logo reading "The revolutionary youth from the land of the Euphrates" shows a fighter jet apparently being hit, after the sound of heavy fire is heard.
A ball of fire erupts from the plane, followed by a trail of smoke. The jet continues to fly, as it appears the plane has been hit in the tail.
"Allahu Akbar! (God is greatest)," cries an unidentified man. "A MiG plane has been hit in the town of Muhasen."
If confirmed, it would be the first time that the rebels have succeeded in downing a Syrian plane and suggests they have probably acquired ground-to-air missiles.
Meanwhile, regime forces seized the upper hand in the economic capital Aleppo on Monday as they advanced into a new rebel-held district while a rights group said 103 people were killed across the country.
Government forces also bombarded areas around Damascus and launched a wide sweep of the capital, including its once-bustling historic Old City, while shocking videos emerged showing alleged rebel atrocities in the Aleppo area.
At least 103 lost their lives on Monday: 58 civilians, 13 rebels and 32 government forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syrian National Council head Abdel Basset Sayda told Agence France Presse the rebels wanted "two no-fly zones, one in the north near the Turkish border, and another in the south near the border with Jordan," in addition to "safe places for refugees and humanitarian corridors."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that she had discussed the possibility of no fly-zones in talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu but that the issue needed more consideration.
"You cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," she said.
Meanwhile, grisly footage of apparent atrocities in the Aleppo area emerged, appearing to show rebels callously throwing bodies off a post office building, while another video showed a man, blindfolded and bound, as his throat was savagely cut.
A crowd gathered around several bodies crumpled on the ground outside a building said to be in al-Bab, near Aleppo, before another three victims were hurled one-by-one from the rooftop.
In another video, a blindfolded man with his hands tied behind his back is forced down on to a pavement in Aleppo, calling out: "I would rather die by a bullet."
As the group chanted "Allahu Akbar" an assailant forced what appeared to be a small knife repeatedly across his throat as his blood spurted onto the pavement.
Both sides in the increasingly vicious conflict have been accused of human rights violations as reports of cold-blooded killings mount, although the authenticity of the latest videos could not be verified.
Syria's army gained some ground as it advanced into a new rebel-held area of Aleppo, the northern metropolis seen as pivotal to the outcome of the conflict.
"With tanks, Syria's regime forces have stormed the west of the district of Saif al-Dawla," said the Observatory. "They are now clashing with the rebels, and parts of Salaheddin are being shelled."
Rebels in July took over several districts but regime forces last week reclaimed most of the Salaheddin district that neighbors Saif al-Dawla.
In Damascus, security forces arrested 22 residents in a major security sweep in the city center, including the Old City, while shells slammed into rebel strongholds around the capital, according to the Observatory.
It was biggest operation of its kind in the capital since the launch of the uprising, it said.
More than 21,000 people have been killed since March last year, with fighting escalating after the failure of outgoing international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan.
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