Syrian pilot rejects to kill protesters, heads to Turkey: opposition

Syrian pilot rejects to kill protesters, heads to Turkey: opposition

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

REUTERS photo

As Syrians took part of “Damascus here we come” demonstrations across the country on Friday, a pilot rejected orders to kill civilian protesters and instead targeted a military security building in Aleppo.

According to Al Arabiya after depleting his ammunitions, the pilot flew to Turkey, a country that already hosts Syrian army defectors. Head of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA), Colonel Riad al-Asaad, is currently residing in Turkey.

A member of the Syrian National Council (SNC) confirmed that the defected pilot has reached Turkey, and said that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has become incapable in controlling the army. Fearing an attack against the presidential palace, the army is sending military pilots without ammunitions, the SNC member added.

But a Syrian official denied that the pilot has defected and fled to Turkey, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported him as saying on Saturday.