Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Syria, in cooperation with Russia, is believed to have
targeted Israeli military unmanned aircraft.

Lebanese sources said the Syrian military was firing surface-to-air
missiles toward Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles that patrol the border
with Lebanon. The sources said the Syrian operations were coordinated with
Russian military advisers in an effort to stop the persistent Israeli aerial
surveillance amid the Sunni revolt against President Bashar Assad.

“The only element with sufficient expertise against UAVs is Russia,” a
source said. “They are either firing the missiles or working with Syrian
operators.”

The Lebanese Army has reported a series of Israeli UAV operations around
the eastern Bekaa Valley. On Feb. 25, the Army said an Israel Air Force UAV and two fighter-jets patrolled the Bekaa Valley for nearly two and a half hours.

At some point during the Israeli reconnaissance mission, the sources
said, a surface-to-air missile was fired. There were no reports of an
interception.

On Feb. 21, however, the Lebanese and Syrian media reported that a SAM
downed an Israeli UAV near the border town of Dir Al Ashayer. Dir Al Ashayer
was said to contain a major Hizbullah complex that included ballistic
missiles. The last purported interception of an Israeli UAV was reported in
October 2011 in southern Lebanon.

The sources said the Syrian Army was firing from along the border as
well as in the Bekaa, controlled by the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. They
said Hizbullah has also recruited scores of Syrian Army officers trained in
air defense operations to stop the Israeli overflights.

“Shooting down an unmanned drone might send the requisite message to
Israel while diminishing the risk of an unwanted escalation that would be
sure to follow the downing of a piloted jet and the loss or capture of an
Israeli air crew,” Lebanese defense analyst Nicholas Blanford wrote in the
Beirut-based Daily Star.

The Daily Star reported a SAM firing from around Baalbek on Feb. 21.
Another Lebanese daily, An Nahar, said two missiles had been fired toward
the Israeli aircraft.

Israel has not confirmed any UAV downing. On Jan. 30, the Israel
Air Force was reported to have conducted a six-hour operation in which
Syrian military and Hizbullah targets were attacked around Damascus and the
border with Lebanon.

“At this point, it does not seem likely that either Russia or Syria want
to sustain SAM fire toward Israeli aircraft,” the Lebanese source said.

  Bashar Assad, Bekaa Valley, Dir Al Ashayer, Israeli Air Force, Syria using Russian ‘expertise’ in effort to shoot down Israeli surveillance drones