Recently a new Youtube channel has been created for a group calling themselves the Martyr Issam Saleh Air Defense Battalion, part of the Farouq Brigade, one of the major armed groups in Syria. What's very interesting about this channel is the amount of MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense Systems) on display
Above we see two examples of what I believe are SA-16 MANPADS, and one SA-7. What we also have is a rare example of a MANPADS being fired in Syria, and while the quality of the video is too poor to be 100% certain I believe this is a SA-16 being fired
While it's unclear if the missile successfully reached it's target it does provide rare evidence of MANPADS being used by the Syrian opposition.
As I've written previously the FSA appear to have captured a significant number of tanks, but as yet there's only been one filmed example of them actually using a tank, attacking a number of checkpoints and outposts in Rastan. A series of videos have now been posted that claims to show the al-Farouq Battalion using a T-62 tank to destroy a Syrian Army tank in Talbiseh, Homs.
The first video shows the al-Farouq Battalion preparing to for the attack, with a T-62 tank, a truck mounted DShK, a truck mounted ZU-23-2, and a third truck mounted weapon that appears to be a large cannon of some sort
The second video in the sequence shows a T-62 tank firing, followed by the camera panning over to show a smoking tracked vehicle. I believe it's the the tank used is same vehicle as the previous video as the partly obscured white square you can see in the second video is also on the first video, just very hard to see
There's also a third video that was posted an hour later on the same channel showing a destroyed tank, but it's unclear if the tank is the same one in the second video. As I posted at the start of July the al-Farouq Battalion has shown off at least 3 T-62 tanks under their control in the past, but to my knowledge this is the first time there's been any video evidence of any FSA battalion using the tank of any kind to attack another tank. Unlike the previous example of a tank being using in Rastan this appears to be part of a carefully planned operation, and the presence of truck mounted guns may suggest the FSA are beginning to plan operations with tanks supported by anti-aircraft defences, which would mark a significant development.
This video has been sent to me by HamaEcho which to knowledge is the first video showing the FSA using a tank to attack the Syrian army, in this instance in Rastan
According to the text below the video (translation by sherbalkis) the action was carried out by Hamza Brigades commanded by First Lieutenant Ibrahim Ayoub as a response to an attack on Altrimssh mosque and the events in Tremseh. Their statements claims they captured the tank after an attack on checkpoint at a house owned by a Dr. Mahmoud Tlass Farzat which had been occupied by shabiha, killing 12 men. After capturing the tank they proceeded to attack a building they claim is used as a checkpoint by shabiha and security forces, killing 30
The statement claims a further 5 Syrian soldiers were killed in the operations. They also state no Free Syrian Army members were killed in the attacks. I've previously posted about the Al-Farouq brigade's tanks and having spoken to activists my understanding is the Hamza brigades and Al-Farouq brigades work together, but it's unclear if the use of this take is part of a wider escalation by those groups. The tank pictured in the video appears to be a T-62.
To my knowledge this is the first time the FSA have been filmed using tanks in combat, and it's hard to know if this was a decision made on the day after capturing the tank, or a shift in tactics among the FSA in Rastan. It seems that after the apparent success it may be likely we'll see more tanks being used by the FSA in Rastan.
Update July 20th Further footage of tanks in action in the same area has been posted showing one tank in action being hit by fire from Assad's forces, and another tank being destroyed, killing some of the crew.
This rather interesting video from Rastan, Homs has been posted on Youtube and shows the Al-Farouq Brigades showing off the weapons and equipment they've captured from the Syrian Army
The video starts with around 50 men armed with what appears to be the usual variety of FSA small arms watching a T-62 tank being driven past, followed by the increasingly ubiquitous truck mounted DShK heavy machine gun, the current popular choice for firing at helicopters. What's quite interesting is many of the men are wearing the same dark green shirts, with some sort of logo, probably their brigade logo
That's not something I've really seen before in Syria, but certainly worth keeping an eye out for in the future. The next part of the video shows the same group of men now stood with 3 T-62 tanks, and one armoured car
In the last picture you can again see green shirts with logos worn by some of the men, so it does appear they've developed their own uniform, suggesting an organised brigade of regulars. There's obviously reasonable questions about whether or not the two tanks in the later part of the video are functioning as we only see one in action, and there's no way to know how much actual tank ammo they have, but it does demonstrate that in Rastan the FSA are stockpiling armoured vehicles, which will make life even harder for the Syrian army.
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