CNN's Arwa Damon sees signs inside Syria that rebels are beginning to
use the weapons they've seized to good effect -- and are beginning to
challenge the government's dominance of the skies.
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Photos: Showdown in Syria
Syrian opposition claims to down jet
No Internet, phone service in Syria
Rare report: CNN crew inside Syria
Syrian rebels begin to challenge al-Assad's command of skies
November 30, 2012 -- Updated 1642 GMT (0042 HKT)
Syrian crisis nearing end game?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rebels make progress against Syrian air might
- Still, much of their weaponry is outdated
- They are producing instructional videos for use of military hardware
Editor's note: CNN's
Arwa Damon and crew are some of the few international reporters in
Syria, which has been restricting access of foreign journalists and
refusing many of them entry. Read more from CNN inside Syria.
(CNN) -- The Soviet-made Mi-8 helicopter turns
slowly in the blue autumn sky. It appears to be at an altitude of
3,000-4,000 feet, circling above the province of Aleppo in northwestern
Syria. Suddenly, there's a streak of white and then an explosion -- as
its engine bursts into flames.
Off camera, there are
yelps of joy. It is a rare success for the Free Syrian Army: a precious
ground-to-air missile has found its target. Trailing black smoke, the
helicopter makes a hard landing. It's not known what happened to the
crew.
In the last week, the
rebels claim to have shot down one plane and two helicopters in Aleppo
province. CNN's Arwa Damon went to the crash site of the plane
Wednesday, and saw chunks of metal being carted off by locals.
Photos: Showdown in Syria
Syrian opposition claims to down jet
No Internet, phone service in Syria
Rare report: CNN crew inside Syria
At least one of the
pilots appears to have been found unconscious by the rebels after
ejecting from the plane. Videos uploaded to YouTube appear to show the
pilot with a bandaged head wound.
It's a sign that the
rebels are beginning to use the weapons they've seized from military
bases to good effect, and are gradually beginning to challenge Bashar
al-Assad government's dominance of the skies.
Damon reported Thursday:
"The FSA controls vast chunks of territory in Aleppo [province]. In a
span of 24 hours they brought down a fighter jet and helicopter and took
over a major base" in the province.
"What was striking
driving through Aleppo, and we were not too far from the city itself,
was seeing villages and towns that two months ago one couldn't drive
through," Damon reported. "They now have children playing in the streets
and shops opening."
"There are some Free
Syria Army checkpoints," Damon reported. "This is significant; you see
where Assad forces might have been and were but are no longer."
Rebels who recently
seized the base of the 46th Regiment some 15 miles (25 kilometers) west
of Aleppo told Damon they had captured as many as 300 MANPADs
(man-portable air-defense systems), about half of which were in working
condition.
There is no way of
confirming the number. Videos uploaded after the rebels overran the base
showed at least 10 large crates of anti-air missiles, each of which
would hold two MANPADs.
Eliot Higgins, who
tracks the Syrian conflict through dozens of YouTube channels on his
blog Brown Moses, says that when the rebels capture "a couple of dozen
[MANPADs] it gets exciting; 100 would be quite amazing"
Rebels also showed off
captured tanks and artillery pieces, as well as Chinese-made multiple
rocket launchers, seized at the 46th Regiment base.
Free Syrian Army
brigades are producing "instructional videos" for handling and arming
their newly acquired hardware. One video shows a rebel on a rocky
hillside opening a large packing crate, assembling a SA-7. Inside, there
are two long olive-green tubes with Cyrillic lettering. Over the next
three minutes, the rebel assembles the tube and points it skyward.
It is just one of dozens
of anti-air missiles or MANPADs that the rebels are thought to have
seized. They are mainly Russian-made SAMs -- some manufactured before
the young fighters were born.
Videos uploaded to
YouTube and evidence gathered on the ground suggest most of the MANPADs
in rebel hands are SA-7s, which the Russians call Strela 2s. It is
hardly state-of-the-art, having been developed in the 1960s. There have
also been occasional sightings of more advanced SA-16s in rebel hands,
which Higgins says has a much better targeting system than the SA-7.
But he notes that often these missile systems lack the all-important grip-stock or battery cooling unit, making them inoperable.
Despite the rebels'
gradual acquisition of heavy weaponry, much of it is in poor shape and
of a certain age. There is no sign that rebel units have been using more
advanced anti-aircraft missiles such as the Stinger.
The Washington Post
reported this week that rebels had acquired some 40 shoulder-fired
missile systems in recent weeks, and some had been supplied by Qatar.
CNN has been unable to confirm that.
But, in October, a
diplomatic source told CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic
Robertson that some rebel groups had a few Western-made anti-aircraft
missiles under "close control."
Even so, the government
retains vast superiority in firepower. And opposition sources say it's
using that firepower in ever more indiscriminate ways.
Higgins notes from the
hundreds of videos he has analyzed that "rather than deploying all their
most powerful weapons at once the air force appears to have escalated
the air war."
He says "L-39s [a
Czech-made jet trainer that can also fly combat missions] and OFAB
100-120 bombs [Russian-made fragmentation munitions] appeared after the
battle for Aleppo began, and cluster munitions appeared after the Idlib
highway was closed."
On Thursday, videos
emerged from the city of Aleppo of an airstrike against a neighborhood
in rebel hands. They showed the bodies of men, women and children, caked
in white dust and blood, being pulled from piles of rubble by frantic
rescuers. Above, the top floors of an apartment block have been sheared
off, raining lumps of concrete on the street below. Opposition activists
estimated at least 15 people were killed.
Other videos uploaded by
opposition activists this week show the town of Maarat al Numan,
captured by rebels in October, enduring a fourth week of air-raids. The
town sits on the main highway linking Damascus with the north, an
important artery that is no longer under government control.
Fawaz Gerges, Professor
of Middle Eastern politics and international relations at the London
School of Economics, tells CNN: "I think the opposition is chipping away
at the government's position. I think the opposition strategy is a war
of attrition to exhaust the government's forces."
After spending several
days among rebel fighters, Damon says that "On the one hand there's a
certain sense of anger and frustration with the international community
because they feel they have been abandoned. At the same time they
haven't lost. They are making major progress and there is a sense of
determination and belief that they can do this on their own."
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