By Rani Jaber
Syrian rebels shot down a regime aircraft "Sukhoi Su- 22", after being shot by anti-aircraft weapon. It's not clear yet whether the plane was downed with MANPAD or by anti-aircraft artillery. More than a footage has been posted showing the plane falling out burnt, the pilot ejected by a parachute and ended up in the hands of the rebels.
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) announced the crash of the plane and the loss of the pilot, adding that the operations of searching for him are underway, to announce later that he had been captured then moved to one of Al-Nusra-held areas in the countryside of Aleppo.
Using this tactical bomber by Assad's regime is considered a breach of the cease-fire truce. Therefore, Assad's regime is trying to act proactively by claiming that the plane had been on a reconnaissance mission, to avoid humiliation in front of its supporters, especially Russia, who claims to be responsible for the protection of cease-fire, and to accuse the rebels of breaching the truce by shooting down (unarmed) reconnaissance plane.
It's noteworthy here that it is very rare for reconnaissance missions to be run by "Sukhoi 22" aircraft, unless the reconnaissance aims at searching for "targets" to destroy them, despite the fact that the plane is bomber in the first place and its payload reaches approximately 4 tons of weapons.
Furthermore, it's ridiculous to pretend that the plane was on a reconnaissance mission for many reasons ; the regime is no need of using such a plane for a reconnaissance mission due to the large number of Russian and Iranian UAV's operating in Syria, plus these kind of planes are not properly equipped for such missions, not to mention the bad reputation of the Colonel pilot "Khaled Ahmad Al-Saeed" from Latakia , the commander of 677 Squadron in Al- Shayrat Airbase. News reported that the plane hit some bombs on the same area where it has crushed.
Downing the plane will cause a huge moral setback for regime forces and his allies, as it was obliged to intensify its air support for some areas after the Russians have decreased their air missions in more than a region, including the countryside of Aleppo, which resulted in losing the control over a number of areas for the rebels, including Tallet al-Eis where the plane was shutdown.
