In an article published in The New York Times on Thursday, C.J. Chivers (@cjchivers) wrote about the battle for Abu ad Duhur, an air base south of Aleppo, Syria. Rebels have targeted the base to keep its planes from going out on missions. Rebel forces have been trying for months - at times claiming success - to shoot down government planes and helicopters in midflight.
Air power has been a substantial advantage for President Bashar al-Assad, even as the lengthy conflict has limited the potency of some of his most powerful weapons.
Mr. Chivers writes of the rebels' success at Abu ad Duhur:
They have downed at least two of the base's MIG att ack jets. And this month they have realized results few would have thought possible. Having seized ground near the base's western edge, from where they can fire onto two runways, they have forced the Syrian Air Force to cease flights to and from this place.
“We are facing aircraft and shooting down aircraft with captured weapons,†said Jamal Marouf, a commander credited by the fighters with downing the first MIG-21 here. “With these weapons we are preventing aircraft from landing or taking off.â€
This is a significant setback for the government in the northern region, where rebels had already strengthened their position with homemade bombs, making roads too perilous for military vehicles to pass and restricting the military's movements.
Read the full article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment