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29 March 2024

Rebels shoot down warplane in eastern Syria: watchdog

Smoke rises after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad fired missiles at Binsh, near the northern province of Idlib. (REUTERS)

Published
By AFP

Syrian rebels on Sunday shot down a warplane in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing local witnesses.

"Rebels shot down a warplane that had been carrying out air strikes near the town of Mayadin and crashed near the town of Baqras, according to witnesses, residents and activists" the Britain-based watchdog said.

The watchdog, which gathers its information from a nationwide network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals, said that there initial reports indicate the pilot had been captured.

Earlier the watchdog reported that rebels seized on Sunday one of the country's major oilfields east of Mayadin, saying it was an unprecedented move in the 19-month conflict.

"Rebels in the Jaafar Tayyar Brigade took control of Al-Ward oilfield, east of the town of Mayadin, after a siege that lasted several days," the Observatory said.

"This is the first time the rebels have taken control of an oilfield," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP by phone.

The fighting on Sunday began at dawn and lasted several hours, said Abdel Rahman, adding that 40 soldiers guarding the infrastructure had either been killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

The rebels claimed to have downed several helicopters since the beginning of the revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which erupted in March 2011 as a peaceful uprising and steadily militarised in the face of state repression.

But they rarely managed to shoot down warplanes.

The military has increasingly relied on its superior air power to try to reverse rebel gains on the ground.