Rebels claim another aircraft ‘kill’

SYRIAN ACTIVISTS have claimed rebels shot down a gover nment wa r p l a n e ov e r the northern province of Idlib yesterday, the second time in a week that opposition fighters claimed to have brought down an aircraft in the escalating civil war.

Two activist groups, The Local Co-ordination Committees and the Britain- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the plane was seen crashing near the Abu Zuhour air base.

Idlib- based activist Alaa al-Din said rebels shot it down with heavy machine guns.

A video broadcast on the pan- Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya shows what appears to be a person parachuting and rebels cheering and claiming he was the pilot.

The video’s authenticity could not be verif ied.

There was no immediate government comment, and the report could not be independently confirmed.

This was the third time this month the rebels claimed to have shot down a government aircraft.

Earlier this week, the opposition fighters said they shot down a helicopter in the Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar. On August 13, rebels claimed to have shot down a regime MiG-23 warplane and captured the pilot.

In Iran, Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi described the Syrian regime as “oppressive” and called for it to transfer power to a democratic system.

He was speaking at the opening of a summit of the 120-member Non-aligned Movement in Tehran.

President Morsi’s comments angered the Syrian delegation, which walked out in protest.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, who is inTehran, was quoted by the state-owned Al-Ikhbariya TV as saying: “Morsi’s comments violated the traditions of the summit and are considered interference in Syrian internal affairs.”

Walid al-Moallem