As Syrian rebels gain more ground in key government areas in northwestern Syria, an advanced locally made drone is being credited as a vital element behind the success of a lightning offensive.
In just a few days, rebel forces, led by former al-Qaeda affiliate Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) and some Turkish-backed Syrian National Army fighters, have captured an area larger than the one previously under their control, including Aleppo city, all of Idlib province, and vast parts of Hama province.
Rebel forces have also captured weapons and military hardware abandoned in several areas as President Bashar al-Assad’s forces fell back.
The assault has pushed government forces towards Hama and Homs in central Syria, where intense fighting has been ongoing since Friday, a few kilometres from the centre of Hama city.
Footage seen by Middle East Eye shows HTS special forces, the Falcon (al-Shaheen) Brigade, deploying advanced, locally made combat drones named “Shaheen”, according to sources who confirmed the details to Middle East Eye.
In the video, fighters are seen swiftly loading ammunition onto a drone before launching it. The fibre-reinforced, wireless suicide drone is equipped with a front-facing camera, streaming live footage to a screen, allowing operators to precisely guide it toward its target.
These drones allowed rebels to target beyond the firing line, rendering armoured vehicles ineffective through coordinated assaults and causing frontlines to collapse.
Rebel commander Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani on Monday wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that a Shaheen drone struck a high-level meeting of the Syrian Republic Guards in the city of Masyaf in the Hama province.
He also said that a Syrian helicopter trying to take off from Hama military airport was also destroyed in another Shaheen attack.
A senior rebel leader told MEE that the Shaheen drone is the “key element” in the offensive.
He added that while the drones are being used for the first time in battle, they have been tested on several occasions along the frontlines in Latakia province, an area that has seen continuous clashes throughout the Syrian war.
“Our Shaheen drones are capable of destroying armoured tanks, armed vehicles, and enemy fighters with less than a five percent error,” said the rebel leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to comment.
“We developed our weapon following the Iranian and Russian drone attacks on our land.”
The leader said that over recent years, rebels had captured Iranian and Russian suicide drones that did not explode and used them as prototypes to create their own drones.
“A number of enemy drones have fallen unexploded in our land, many of which were seized recently, and now we send them back to kill them,” he said.
Since last week, the rebel forces seized Aleppo International Airport, four military airports, stores of ammunition and military hardware, including tanks and drones. Rebels were also filmed flying a captured government helicopter.
The rebels’ success has sparked rumours that Ukraine, which effectively uses suicide drones against Russian targets, played a role in helping plan the operation against the Syrian government.
Has Ukraine helped the Syrian rebel offensive in Aleppo?
Over the past year, Russian officials have accused Kyiv of providing kamikaze drones to Syrian rebels in Idlib and training HTS fighters on how to manufacture them themselves.
Several Turkish sources have however downplayed Ukraine’s influence, if there is any, on the Aleppo offensive. The sources said the rebels do not require assistance to acquire or develop the drones, as the black market offers plenty of alternatives, including smuggling from Turkey.
“The Falcon Brigade has been using and developing drones for the past 10 years,” Cihat Arpacik, editor-in-chief of Intelligence Report magazine, told MEE. The rebel leader denied to MEE any foreign cooperation in developing the drones.
Although he refused to provide details on their range, no drone attacks were reported beyond the Assad-held Masyaf area, which is about 50 km from the rebel-held city of Khan Shaykhun.
Drone footage has shown attacks on airports, tanks, vehicles, and government forces, as well as the operation that killed Brigadier General Uday Ghasa, the head of the Military Security Branch in Hama, in the town of Souran.
Pro-Assad official media confirmed Ghasa’s killing and reported that government forces have thwarted many drone attacks. Pro-government media pages on Facebook, which report news 24 hours a day, continuously publish warnings about new waves of rebel drone attacks.
The Syrian government called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the latest developments and received messages of support from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Russia, and Iran.
The Syrian Army said in a statement: “We continue our operations with the Russian forces, carrying out strike attacks on terrorist groups, cutting their supply routes, and destroying five headquarters in Aleppo and Idlib.”
However, the Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, shared photos with MEE and said that these attacks had struck civilian neighbourhoods, camps and hospitals in Aleppo and Idlib, killing 25 people and wounding 66 others.
‘Our Shaheen drones are capable of destroying armoured tanks, armed vehicles, and enemy fighters with less than a five percent error’
Italy’s deputy prime minister said a Russian strike hit the Franciscan College Terra Sancta of Aleppo and caused serious damage.
A UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday: “The Assad regime has created the conditions for the current escalation through its ongoing refusal to engage in a political process and its reliance on Russia and Iran.”
The fighting over the past week has killed more than 457 people, including at least 72 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
As of 30 November, more than 48,500 people have been displaced in Idlib and northern Aleppo, more than half of them children, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said on Monday.
The UN Syria Commission said it was investigating attacks on civilian infrastructure in Aleppo city, including one hospital and a university dorm, and other densely populated civilian areas.
© 2024, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
