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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian military helicopter downed in Damascus |
| 2012-08-28 |
| AMMAN/ALEPPO: A Syrian military helicopter came down under fire and in flames in Damascus yesterday as President Bashar Assad’s air force strafed and bombarded rebel-held districts in the capital and in Aleppo. State television confirmed a helicopter had crashed in Damascus but gave no details. Opposition activists said rebels had shot it down. Opposition video footage showed a crippled aircraft burning up and crashing into a built-up area, sending up a pillar of oily black smoke. A day after his enemies accused Assad’s troops and sectarian militia of massacring hundreds of people in the town of Daraya near Damascus, the possible shooting down of the helicopter, the latest of several such successes claimed by lightly armed rebel fighters, bolstered morale. But, witnesses said, even more intense army bombardments followed. “It was flying over the eastern part of the city and firing all morning,” an activist calling himself Abu Bakr said from near where the helicopter came down in the eastern suburbs. “The rebels had been trying to hit it for about an hour,” he said. “Finally they did.” Video footage carried the sound of people celebrating the helicopter’s dive with shouts of “ Although rebel commanders have asked foreign allies for anti-aircraft missiles, Western nations are unwilling to supply such weapons for fear of them falling into hostile hands. There was no indication fighters in Damascus had used any missiles. Army helicopters had been rocketing and strafing crowded working class suburbs on the eastern outskirts of the city since Sunday. Generally seen as rebel strongholds, they came under renewed assault early on Monday. |
| Posted by:Steve White |