BEIRUT – Rebels in northern Syria downed an apparent warplane on Tuesday, according to a monitoring group and activists, as a partial truce showed further signs of fraying as fighting spreads and negotiators struggle to advance peace bids.
The aircraft caught fire and crashed near the city of Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group. The origin and make of the plane are not clear, although jets from Syria’s government and Russia are suspected of carrying out bombing raids in the area.
It also was unclear what type of ground weapons could have been used to target the aircraft.
Rebel forces – including some factions backed by the West – have heavy machine guns and other arms. But some rebel allies in the region, led by Saudi Arabia, have called recently to give the fighters greater firepower such as anti-aircraft systems.
A video posted on Facebook purported to show the wreckage and an angry mob thronging the pilot, who apparently survived. The video’s authenticity could not be independently verified.
In November, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria, an incident that dramatically escalated tensions in what has become a volatile proxy conflict for world powers – with the West and allies backing rebels, while Russia and Iran support the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In recent days, rebels forces have fought intense battles alongside militants from al-Qaida’s Syria affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, near Aleppo and in a northwestern province that borders Turkey.
The opposition groups have attempted to seize a number of villages from forces aligned with Assad’s government, which in turn has been accused of numerous violations of the nationwide cease-fire that took hold on Feb. 27.
“Our attacks are a response to ongoing regime violations of the truce,” said Ahmed Haj Ali, a spokesperson for the 1st Coastal Division, a rebel outfit that is affiliated with the umbrella Free Syrian Army group.
The worsening violence could threaten the momentum of talks in Geneva that resumed last month as part of a renewed international effort, led by Russia and the United States, to end Syria’s devastating civil war.
The first round of those negotiations ended last month on a relatively positive note. Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. envoy to Syria and mediator for the talks, plans to reconvene with government and opposition delegations in the Swiss city this month.
“We are all surprised at how long this cessation of hostilities has lasted, but it still contains profound flaws and ambiguities,” said Emile Hokayem, a Middle East analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“But the fighting has not stopped.”
The cease-fire, which serves as basis for the talks, has received firm backing from both Russia and the United States. But while violence has been reduced, Hokayem said, a task force to monitor violations that Moscow and Washington jointly chair lacks an enforcement mechanism.
Warring parties have repeatedly flagged alleged violations, which still are committed daily, especially by government forces, analysts and Syrian rebels say.
Over the weekend, an apparent Syrian government warplane bombed a hospital in Azaz, a rebel-held town near the Turkish border.
Last week, government aircraft bombarded a rebel-held suburb of the capital, Damascus, killing more than 30 people, according to monitoring groups and activists.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring organization, said 12 children and one emergency responder were among those killed in the attack in the town of Deir al-Asafir.
That incident drew strong rebukes from Western powers, particularly from French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal.
“This attack, which deliberately targeted civilians, including children, shows that the regime is continuing its abuses and violating the truce,” said Nadal, who condemned the Syrian government.
