For the second time this week, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) shot down an armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which was flying over its positions in the northern Lattakia countryside. The incident took place in the early hours of March 17.
A source in the SAA’s 4th Division told SouthFront that the UAV was shot down near the area of Na’awr Jurin. The UAV was reportedly carrying several munitions filled with C4 high-explosives.
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Two days ago, an identical UAV was shoot down over the hill of Abu Ali in northern Lattakia. Experts said that both UAVs are similar to the ones used in the attacks on the Russian Hmeimim airbase during 2018.
These armed UAVs were likely launched from militants’ strongholds in northern Lattakia or western Idlib. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its two main allies, the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and Jaysh al-Izza, control these areas.
The failure of both UAV attacks may indicate that the SAA has developed a new technique to detect, tack and shoot them down before they reach their targets.
The opponents are testing the place and will attack in a greater number soon to see how things operate on Lattakia’s end.