Special to WorldTribune.com

MOSCOW — Russia has reported an attack on its aircraft by Sunni
rebels in Syria.

The Russian Transportation Ministry said a passenger jet was shot by
surface-to-air missiles during a flight over Damascus. The ministry said the
charter aircraft, which flew 159 people, came under fire on April 29 during
a flight from Egypt to Russia.

“There were signs of war activity which, in the crew’s opinion, threatened the safety of the plane,” the ministry said.

This marked the first report of rebel fire toward Russian aircraft. Russia has been identified as the main military supplier to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In 2012, the rebels were reported to have acquired their first
anti-aircraft assets through Turkey. The rebels also said they captured
anti-aircraft artillery from Syrian military bases in the north. On April
29, heavy fighting was reported during a rebel attempt to capture an air
force base near the border with Turkey.

The Russian ministry did not provide details of the plane flight or its
altitude when the missiles were fired. The ministry, however, reported no
injuries or damage to the aircraft, operated by Russia’s NordWind Airlines.

Officials said two SAMs were fired at the A-320 Russian aircraft. They
said it was not clear how or whether the rebels knew the aircraft was
Russian.

“The Syrian side informed us that on Monday morning unidentified people
had fired two surface-to-air missiles which exploded in the immediate
proximity of a civilian plane belonging to a Russian airline,” a Russian
source told the Interfax news agency. “The crew was able to move the
aircraft to the side on time and save the lives of the passengers.”

  A-320, Bashar Assad, NordWind Airlines, Russian Transportation Ministry, Two SAMs fired at Russian passenger jet flying over Damascus