Amateur videos posted online purportedly show a Syrian warplane shot down Wednesday by rebels in the thick of intense fighting.
The attack came on the heels of an air strike on a suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus that reportedly killed at least 20 people and left a dozen more buried under rubble.
“It’s gone up in flames! Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)!” a person shouts in one of the videos, according to Agence France-Presse. “The (rebel) Free Syrian Army air defense battalions have hit a MiG warplane!”
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights distributed video of the incident that shows what appears to be heavy machine-gun fire striking the plane, which then drops from the sky.
“The shelling and bombardment in Eastern Ghuta province on Wednesday was fierce,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AP on Wednesday.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, put the death toll higher, saying up to 35 were killed and dozens more were wounded in the air strike.
Other videos posted online show several vehicles on fire as thick black smoke billows from a street. The videos also feature the bodies of two people, who were burned, in a pickup truck and a third person lying on the ground.
Damascus has largely been spared the violence that has left other cities in ruins, but in recent weeks, rebels who established footholds in the Damascus suburbs have clashed with government forces, moving from the east and south into the center of the capital.
Syrian rebels have been engaged in a civil war with government troops for nearly two years, leaving at least 70,000 dead, according to the United Nations.
On Tuesday, insurgents fired at one of the palaces of President Bashar Assad following their capture of several air bases days earlier.
A mortar attack Wednesday was the second in as many days in Damascus.
The SANA state news agency said mortars landed in a complex housing Tishrin Stadium and a hotel in the Baramkeh neighborhood, killing a player from al-Wathbah club based in Homs. He was wounded inside the hotel as players were getting ready for practice and died later at a hospital.
State TV broadcast video of what it said was the hotel. The explosion blew out the windows on the first floor of the building, while shattered glass covered three beds in a one of the rooms. A bloodied duffle bag lay on the floor.
Players from al-Wathbah team who witnessed the attack identified the dead teammate as Youssef Suleiman. The 19-year-old striker had played internationally on one of Syria's national youth teams. They said he was the father of a 6-month-old baby.
Suleiman's teammates said the mortars landed in front of the hotel, where players normally stayed.
"We were collecting our things about to head to the stadium when we heard the first explosion and the windows were blown off," said Ali Ghosn, a 20-year-old player.
"Youssef was hit in the neck. We ran out to the corridor when the second explosion struck and I saw Youssef fall down bleeding from his neck," he told The Associated Press in Damascus as some of his colleagues wept.
Three other players were wounded, including one who was in critical condition.
The attack occurred a few hours before the team was to play the Hama-based al-Mawaair club. The game was postponed after the mortar strike.
The attack came on the heels of an air strike on a suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus that reportedly killed at least 20 people and left a dozen more buried under rubble.
“It’s gone up in flames! Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)!” a person shouts in one of the videos, according to Agence France-Presse. “The (rebel) Free Syrian Army air defense battalions have hit a MiG warplane!”
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights distributed video of the incident that shows what appears to be heavy machine-gun fire striking the plane, which then drops from the sky.
“The shelling and bombardment in Eastern Ghuta province on Wednesday was fierce,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AP on Wednesday.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, put the death toll higher, saying up to 35 were killed and dozens more were wounded in the air strike.
Other videos posted online show several vehicles on fire as thick black smoke billows from a street. The videos also feature the bodies of two people, who were burned, in a pickup truck and a third person lying on the ground.
Damascus has largely been spared the violence that has left other cities in ruins, but in recent weeks, rebels who established footholds in the Damascus suburbs have clashed with government forces, moving from the east and south into the center of the capital.
Syrian rebels have been engaged in a civil war with government troops for nearly two years, leaving at least 70,000 dead, according to the United Nations.
On Tuesday, insurgents fired at one of the palaces of President Bashar Assad following their capture of several air bases days earlier.
A mortar attack Wednesday was the second in as many days in Damascus.
The SANA state news agency said mortars landed in a complex housing Tishrin Stadium and a hotel in the Baramkeh neighborhood, killing a player from al-Wathbah club based in Homs. He was wounded inside the hotel as players were getting ready for practice and died later at a hospital.
State TV broadcast video of what it said was the hotel. The explosion blew out the windows on the first floor of the building, while shattered glass covered three beds in a one of the rooms. A bloodied duffle bag lay on the floor.
Players from al-Wathbah team who witnessed the attack identified the dead teammate as Youssef Suleiman. The 19-year-old striker had played internationally on one of Syria's national youth teams. They said he was the father of a 6-month-old baby.
Suleiman's teammates said the mortars landed in front of the hotel, where players normally stayed.
"We were collecting our things about to head to the stadium when we heard the first explosion and the windows were blown off," said Ali Ghosn, a 20-year-old player.
"Youssef was hit in the neck. We ran out to the corridor when the second explosion struck and I saw Youssef fall down bleeding from his neck," he told The Associated Press in Damascus as some of his colleagues wept.
Three other players were wounded, including one who was in critical condition.
The attack occurred a few hours before the team was to play the Hama-based al-Mawaair club. The game was postponed after the mortar strike.
Source : NyDailyNews
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