New Videos Show Even More Heavy Weapons Captured From The 46th Regiment

As I've been posting for the last few days a recent major victory at the 46th Regiment base near Aleppo has resulted in large numbers of heavy weapons being captured by the Syrian opposition, including surface to air missiles, tanks, and artillery.  Now more photographs and videos have been posted online showing a large collection of heavy weapons that are claimed to have been captured from the 46th Regiment base.

In this first video we at first see, from right to left, a T-55 tank, a BMP-1, what I believe is a BMP variant, and three more tank, possibly T-55s. We then see 6 truck mounted guns, including ZPU-2s, DShKs, and KPVs, likely used in the attack rather than captured from the base.

We then have this video from the same gathering showing off some of the artillery captured

First we see a 130 mm M-46 field artillery gun, then three D-30 howitzers, which I gave more details on in an earlier post. 

HamaEcho posted a number of photographs showing even more equipment, apparently taken at the same gathering.

In this first picture we get another look at the 130mm M-46 field artillery gun, along with four Type-63 multiple rocket launcher, a weapon that until now was the longest ranged artillery weapon widely available to the Syrian opposition (see here for more details of their past use).

This photo provides us with another angle on the various collected artillery pieces.

Again, another angle on the artillery, and what I believe is a 120mm M1938M mortar.  Finally we have one last video from Al Jazeera Arabic filmed at this gathering

It's difficult to get a sense of whether or not they filmed additional vehicles and weapons, but at one point a BTR-60 or BTR-70 is visible in the background.

It should be noted one earlier video showed six Type-63 launchers, and there's no sign of the surface to air missiles captured, so it seems unlikely this shows off every heavy weapon captured.

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Videos Show More Heavy Weapons Captured From The 46th Regiment

Early on this week I posted about some of the equipment captured from the 46th Regiment base near Aleppo after an attack by the Syrian opposition, including videos of T-55 tanks, Type-63 rockets launchers, SA-7 and SA-16 surface to air missiles, and various artillery pieces.  Two new videos have now been posted showing more equipment looted from the base.  This first lengthy video provides us with a tour of the 46th Regiment base

At 3:26 we see two T-55 tanks, one of which we see later loaded onto a truck, ready to be transported out of the base.  We also see plenty of abandoned trucks, as well as the same BTR-60 I highlighted in this earlier video.

Away from the 46th Regiment base we have this selection of heavy weapons reportedly captured from the base

It begins with a T-55 tank, then shows a D-30 howizter, followed by a 130 mm M-46 field artillery gun, and a second D-30 howitzer.  The D-30 howitzer has an effective range of 15.4km, 21.9km with a rocket assisted projectile; and the M-46 field artillery has a range of between 27.5km to 38km with a rocket assisted projectile.  Compared to the range of the Syrian opposition most recently used long range weapon, the Type-63 multiple rocket launcher with a 8.05km range, it's clear this would be a significant improvement in the range of heavy weapons used by the Syrian opposition.  The question is whether or not the Syrian opposition has members who can use these weapons accurately and effectively.

We might see these weapons making an appearance soon at another key battle being fought at the Sheikh Suleiman army base, 15km north of the 46th Regiment base.  Covering around 200 hectares of rocky hills 25km west of Aleppo the Syrian opposition claims "The day Sheikh Suleiman falls, all of western Aleppo will finally be liberated. Give it 45 days and Aleppo city will fall too", and with the 46th Regiment base captured after a lengthy siege freeing up it's attackers to join the battle at Sheikh Suleiman with their freshly acquired heavy weapons it seems as if this may not be an idle boast.

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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Heavy Weapons And Surface To Air Missiles Captured From The 46th Regiment Base

Today we've seen a number of reports about the capture of the 46th Regiment base west of Aleppo, after two months of fighting around the base.  EA Worldview has a summary of the events, which includes these claims

Rebel fighters took control of the 46th regiment in the western suburb of Aleppo, the last bastion of regime forces in the area and the biggest military base where its artillery and tanks used to bombard the surrounding towns and villages as well as the city of Aleppo. The base also was the main reinforcement’s source to regime forces fighting in Aleppo city. The rebels acquired more than ten military tanks and a number of rocket launchers, heavy artillery in addition to a big quantity of arms and ammunition.

Al Jazeera also had this report

Several Youtube channels have been posting footage from the battle, as well as footage of what was captured, including atareb mohrara, atarebintoheart, freenorthernsyria, and atarebsyfree2012, and from those channels we can see a great deal of equipment was looted.

For example, in the below video we see a captured T-55 tank driving away with a D-30 howitzer, with the howitzer's ammo pictured in this video

In this video we see multiple tanks, although from the quality of the video it's unclear if they are functional, or if they are all T-55s

In the below video we briefly see a BTR-60 in the background, along with what appears to be the T-55 shown towing D-30 in the first video, which can be seen clearly in this second video of the scene shot from behind the tank.

These videos show six Type-63 multiple rocket launchers, which I've written about in more detail here

There's also large amounts of crates containing a variety of ammo captured, and in these two videos we get a brief look at a SA-16 missile tube, along with it's battery

It appears that the stack of crates it's in, and the one behind it, are all the same kind of crate, matching the crates seen in the video of SA-24s and SA-16s captured in the Bala Air Defense Base in East Ghouta, outside of Damascus.  It should be noted that as with many surface to air missile systems captured by the opposition it appears there are no gripstocks, which are required for the operation of the missile systems alongside the battery and missile tube.

Finally in this video we see trucks loaded up with crates, apparently looted from the ammo dumps, and even a brief glimpse of what looks like the ends of the SA-16 crates at 16s into the video, just on the right hand side

It appears that the Syrian opposition has managed to capture a large amount of heavy weapons with plenty of ammo in this attack, and we may see in coming days these weapons in action around Aleppo.

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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Multiple Videos Showing A Helicopter Shot Down Near Damascus

A number of videos have been posted on a number of opposition Youtube channels showing a helicopter being hit, then crashing, at East Ghouta, near Damascus.  The first two videos show the helicopter being hit, likely by 23mm AA fire

Update October 5th A very clear shot of the helicopter getting hit

These next videos show the helicopter spinning out of control and crashing into the ground

Update October 5th Another video of the helicopter falling

This final video shows the debris field

Update October 5th Another video was posted showing the debris field

Update October 5th @troublejee sent me this extremely graphic video of the remains of the pilot, or possibly pilots.

Currently it's unclear if this is related to the capture of an air defense base in the same area.

Update October 8th @troublejee has also sent me this photograph, that appears to show pairs of tracer bullets, strongly suggesting a ZU-23-2 was used to down the helicopter

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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

The FSA In Aleppo Kill An Iranian Officer, Or Do They?

During the Syrian conflict it has been often claimed that members of the Iranian military and security forces are inside Syria, assisting the Assad government against the opposition.  Videos have been posted in the past of men the opposition claim to be members of the Iranian military or security forces, but, as of yet, there has been no solid proof.

This video filmed in Salahedin, Aleppo shows members of the armed opposition claiming to have an ID card from a Iranian officer they've killed

The details of the card are unclear in this video, but the group posted a photograph of the ID on their Facebook page

The card clearly states it's for the Fajr International Cultural and Sports Tournament, which seems to cover a number of competitive events taking place in Iran on a regular basis with international competitors, so clearly this is not a military ID.

The ID card is also for a Syrian citizen, Ali Ibrahim, not an Iranian citizen, which is acknowledge by the group who killed him on the Facebook page, but they go on to claim this is proof he took a martial arts training course in Iran.  However, his position is described as "player", so it seems far more likely he competed in an international event in Iran, and then returned to Syria.

This hasn't stopped the video from being reposted on Youtube with the description "Syria Freedom Fighters Show Iran Passport of Iranian Army Officer Battle Casualty", and being spread around social media sites claiming to show proof of Iranians in Syria.  As always anyone watching videos from Syria should always think twice about unquestionably accepting claims about the content of a video or photograph, and always try to find the original source of a video rather than relying on whatever spin the person reposting the video puts on it.

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Alleged Mass Execution By The FSA And Al-Nusra Front In Aleppo

This video showing what appears to be around 20 bound, blindfolded, and mostly shoeless men apparently executed was posted on the Salman Al Farisi Battalion Facebook page

It's described as "The end of the security (forces) at the hands of Salman Al Farisi battalion, Free Al Bab Brigade", and the writing on the bonnet of the vehicle at the beginning of the video reads "Brigade of the Free of Al Bab and the East, Sulliman Al Farisi Battalion" and "FSA". The location of the video appears to be "Saba'a Bahrat" in Aleppo.

A post made a few minutes later claims that the Salman Al Farisi Battalion destroyed 3 tanks, and killed a bus load of army and shabiha members, in a joint operation with Al-Nusra Front.  It's unclear if it's related to the above video.

The Facebook account appears to have been opened on June 10th, 2012, and has used other Youtube channels in the past, so it appears to be a genuine opposition battalion.

Thanks to @ali_alsanah, @ArarMaher, and @HasanSari7 for help with translation.

Update September 10th The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has picked up on this and posted an additional video from the scene apparently showing members of the group responsible with the bodies

Update September 11th The New York Times has a piece on the executions which includes this

In one of the videos showing the executed soldiers, a narrator claims that a rebel battalion called Salman al-Farisi was responsible for killing the men. A man who claimed to be a representative of the battalion, contacted through its Facebook page, condemned the killings but said he was not sure whether members of the militia were responsible for them. The video of the executions was subsequently removed from the battalion’s Facebook page.

Update October 4th Now Lebanon reports Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for the executions, from their statement

God enabled the mujahedeen of the Al-Nusra Front in the city of Aleppo to capture and kill 20 heretic soldiers from the Hanano military post

The image described in the Now Lebanon article appears in this article, apparently showing a member of Al-Nusra Front in the process of executing the prisoners. 

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Alleged Shabiha Tried And Executed In Aleppo

Two videos have emerged from Aleppo showing a alleged shabiha in the custody of the FSA, then executed

A statement that was posted on the Aleppo Tawheed (Unification) Brigade Facebook page said that the man in the video, Mohammad Sa'ab, had been put on trial due to his involvement in the killing of dozens of protesters in Sukkari district of Aleppo.  He confessed to murdering the Zreig family, kidnapping, rape and further murders, financing Shabiha, and informing on Air Force intelligence on the activists Nur and Mohammed Khairallah from Andan.

The court ruled that he should be executed and the sentence was carried out in front of a crowd of 2000 people in the Sukkari district on September 5th, followed by celebrations among the local citizens.

The above is based on the statement provided by the brigade, so it's not possible to independently confirm the details, nor confirm the individual executed was guilty of the crimes he was accused of and confessed to, nor is it possible to confirm the events surrounding his confession and execution.

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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

The Free Syrian Army Captures SA-6 Surface To Air Missiles

The following video from Hran Awameed 25km east of Damascus has been posted on Youtube showing a convoy that has been captured by the FSA loaded with a number of containers

Something Awful forum member mlmp08 noted that the one missile shown in a container appear to be SA-6 surface to air missile, which can be seen seen in a similar container here

You can make out some identifying features in these screenshots, including the warhead, unusual middle section, and the tail fins

 

As of yet there's no evidence that the FSA have captured the launching platform for the missile, and the missiles are effectively useless without one, apart from their use as IED components.

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The Free Syrian Army Storms A Surface To Air Missile Facility

This video, supposedly filmed outside of Damascus, has been posted online, apparently showing the Free Syrian Army shortly after they captured a missile facility

@salehram and @hlk01 both provided me with a translation of the opening statement from the video

Popular Defense Group
Abdulla Bin-Salam unit
Units of the Eastern Ghouta

A group from an FSA unit stormed a rocket maintenance and modification base in the area of Iftrees.  The regime had used this base to shell surrounding areas and for the storage of cannons and tanks that enter the villages and cities of Damascus Countryside.
During the successful operation, FSA members found a large group of rockets in a ready-to-launch state and with massive destructive capability.  The biggest surprise was a group of rockets that were being modified to carry unconventional warheads,  this may have been done to equip the rockets with chemical or biological warheads.

After bringing out this information - confirmed via evidence and images - to the public and international community, the Higher Military Council of the FSA warns that the Assad regime is preparing to shell Syrian cities with these destructive rockets.  It is not unlikely for the regime to resort to using rockets with unconventional warheads such as chemical, biological or other warheads.  The Higher Military Council calls upon Arab nations and the international community to rapidly intervene militarily to save the lives of Syrians before this regime takes revenge with a new level of crime that would have catastrophic consequences on the entire region.

Victory to the great Syrian revolution.

As well as a translation of what's said on the video

By the will of God, the Iftrees base has been stormed by the Popular Defense Group, Units of the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus countryside.

Thank God.  God is greater !  Here are the members of the Free Syrian Army.  God is greater!
Storming of the Iftrees base.  Tanks destroyed.  Storming of the rocket storage facility.  Ten rockets.
God is greater!
This warehouse of full of rockets.

Off-camera voice: God is greater! Rockets, Iftrees base, rockets.   Chemical weapons.  Oh people, Assad is hitting us with them.  God is greater!

Another video posted on a Youtube channel belonging to the al Islam Brigade also shows the missile base

What we can see in this video are SA-5 surface to air missiles, which makes me seriously question that claims in the opening statement of the first video that "The biggest surprise was a group of rockets that were being modified to carry unconventional warheads,  this may have been done to equip the rockets with chemical or biological warheads.", especially as Syria has access to a large number of SCUD missiles, which are designed for surface to surface attacks with a variety of warheads.  It also seems very unlikely these missiles would actually be any use to the FSA without the correct equipment and training, as well as enough time to move them to a safe location before the Syrian Army responded.

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