Syrian rebels said Monday they shot down a military jet, an assertion denied by the government, which blamed the crash on a "technical failure." But state media say the plane crashed because of "technical problems" and a search is under way to find the pilot.
According to Syria's state-run news agency Sana, the plane that went down had suffered a fault with its "control mechanisms" during a routine training mission, forcing the pilot to abandon the aircraft. In recent months the government has begun to use its air power to try to crush a 17-month-old uprising.
General Gaye strongly condemned the government of President Bashar al-Assad for using heavy weapons, which now include jets firing on at least three cities, according to rebels. "A MiG warplane shot down in Mouhassen!" says an excited man off-camera, citing a location in Deir Ezzor northeast of the capital city of Damascus. "God is great!"
The aircraft was shot down near the town of al-Muhassan, around 120km (75 miles) from the Iraqi border in Deir al-Zour province, the rebels say. The man said to be the pilot, who appeared calm, said the light bruises on his face were from the plane crash and not caused by the rebels, and that he had been given first aid.
A few hours later, the opposition Local Coordinating Committees posted a video showing what it said was the pilot, whom it identified as Col. Mufeed Mohamad Suleiman. No identity card was shown. No missile could clearly be seen in the video and Syria’s state news agency said the plane crashed because of a technical error.
A group calling itself the "Revolutionary Youth of the Land of the Euphrates" uploaded a video to YouTube purporting to show the captured pilot surrounded by three armed rebels, saying that his mission was to "bomb the town of al-Muhassan".
According to Syria's state-run news agency Sana, the plane that went down had suffered a fault with its "control mechanisms" during a routine training mission, forcing the pilot to abandon the aircraft. In recent months the government has begun to use its air power to try to crush a 17-month-old uprising.
General Gaye strongly condemned the government of President Bashar al-Assad for using heavy weapons, which now include jets firing on at least three cities, according to rebels. "A MiG warplane shot down in Mouhassen!" says an excited man off-camera, citing a location in Deir Ezzor northeast of the capital city of Damascus. "God is great!"
The aircraft was shot down near the town of al-Muhassan, around 120km (75 miles) from the Iraqi border in Deir al-Zour province, the rebels say. The man said to be the pilot, who appeared calm, said the light bruises on his face were from the plane crash and not caused by the rebels, and that he had been given first aid.
A few hours later, the opposition Local Coordinating Committees posted a video showing what it said was the pilot, whom it identified as Col. Mufeed Mohamad Suleiman. No identity card was shown. No missile could clearly be seen in the video and Syria’s state news agency said the plane crashed because of a technical error.
A group calling itself the "Revolutionary Youth of the Land of the Euphrates" uploaded a video to YouTube purporting to show the captured pilot surrounded by three armed rebels, saying that his mission was to "bomb the town of al-Muhassan".
