BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian rebels claimed on Monday that they had brought down a Syrian fighter jet for the first time, posting a video of what they said was proof, while the United Nations said it had removed a third of its observers in advance of its mandate expiring later this month.
The rebels said they shot down the jet early on Monday in the eastern city of Deir Ezzour, according to activists. A 33-second video released by the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network based in different areas, shows a jet rushing across the screen before bursting into flames.
Both developments — three weeks into a ground battle for Aleppo, and as fighting spreads in Damascus, Dara’a and other areas — highlight the conflict’s recent spiral away from diplomacy and toward widening war.
After 17 months, Syria is being defined by confrontation, with no end in sight, said Gen. Babacar Gaye, Head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria.
“It is clear that violence is increasing in many parts of Syria,” General Gaye said, noting that fighting had forced United Nations observers to leave Aleppo. “The indiscriminate use of heavy weapons by the government and targeted attacks by the opposition in urban centers are inflicting a heavy toll on innocent civilians.”
General Gaye strongly condemned the government of President Bashar al-Assad for using heavy weapons, which now include jets firing on at least three cities, according to rebels. And he urged Mr. Assad’s government to trade its military mind-set for “a mind-set of dialogue.”
That seemed unlikely anytime soon. On Monday, fighting continued in at least a half-dozen areas, with fierce battles raging in Aleppo, as clashes and shelling in Damascus coincided with what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described as a “large-scale raid” throughout the capital by Syrian troops who detained at least 21 people.
In Aleppo, activists reported fighting in Salahaddiin, the most contested neighborhood, which the government said it retook from the rebels last week, and in other areas of the city. At least two groups took responsibility for bringing down the fighter jet.
The label on the YouTube video said a group called the Youth of the Land of the Euphrates was responsible, though a commentary on YouTube also described it as “the downing of a MiG 23 by the Grandsons of Mohammed Brigade.”
It is not clear how or why the plane exploded. No missile could clearly be seen in the video, and it is possible that some kind of technical error on the plane itself was responsible for the crash. But rebels have been clamoring for antiaircraft weapons for weeks, and there have been unconfirmed reports over the past two weeks suggesting that Turkey had passed shoulder-fired Stinger missiles to the rebels.
These claims have not been independently verified. But if the rebels managed successfully to fire on and destroy a Syrian fighter jet, it could signal a major shift in a war that has been defined by the inequality of force, with the Syrian military outgunning the opposition at every turn.
Some rebel leaders also said on Monday that the insurgents might have used antiaircraft weapons seized from government arsenals.
Omar Idlibi, a spokesman for the local coordination committee, said the rebels brought down the jet with antiaircraft cannon fire, not with missiles, saying the downing of the jet showed how much the rebels’ “war talents have been improved, especially using this kind of cannon.”Sami Nader, an analyst in Lebanon, called the downing of the warplane “a military turning point.” said.
Rebels and activists, sharing the video widely online, described it as a significant achievement. “It’s a big operation, a big blow to the regime,” said Abu Rawan, a commander with the Free Syrian Army in Homs Province. “It means the FSA is strong and because we can down these kinds of planes, we can institute a no fly-zone without international support.”
