08/10/12
#Syria, FSA captured BMP and other vehicles and weapons
Syrian rebels say they destroyed helicopter, tanks #Syria
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels aired footage on Tuesday of burnt-out tanks as well as a helicopter engulfed in smoke and flames which they said they had destroyed after it landed in a field in northern Idlib province carrying Syrian special forces.
An amateur video posted on the Internet showed a military helicopter with its blades spinning as if it had just landed. “Special forces are being deployed from a helicopter to kill civilians in (the town) of Mar Dibsi,” a voice off screen says breathlessly to the sound of gunfire.
A second video, which appears to be from the same town, shows the helicopter in flames, with a white rotor blade poking out of the plumes of smoke.
Other videos posted on Tuesday by rebels who are fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad showed the burnt-out shells of four tanks and two BMPs - Russian-made tracked infantry fighting vehicles. One video showed a man firing rocket-propelled grenades at a passing tank.
Access to Syria is restricted by the government and Reuters is unable to verify such reports.
The lightly armed rebel Free Syrian Army is dwarfed by Assad’s forces, which the United Nations accuses of killing more than 10,000 people during the 16-month revolt.
Nevertheless, the past few weeks have seen a sharp rise in the number of attacks by the rebel force, and residents say the government has lost control of a number of towns and villages.
A British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 32 members of Assad’s forces had been killed on Tuesday around the country.
