Syrian Militants Attack Russian Reporters With US-Made TOW Missiles

The Syrian militants have used the US manufactured TOW Anti-Tank System to target Russian Journalists.

Russian journalists were attacked with anti-tank missile on November 23 while passing to Dagmashliya, a Syrian town located 20 kilometres from the Turkish border. The missile moved off right next to the car that Russian reporters were riding, RT reported today.

The missile wounded RT reporters Sargon Hadaya, cameraman Alexander Zhukov and TASS correspondent Alexander Yelistratov, leaving Roman Kosarev shocked. Following the incident, a video titled "Jihadists Launch TOW at Journalists" was uploaded online, threatening the correspondents.

The video showed a group of Syrian insurgents firing a US-made TOW anti-tank system. Roman Kosarev recognized the area and tried to escape. "A booster found at the scene is the same as the booster used by the rebels in the video." an expert said.

A TOW, US-made anti-tank weapon, has a range of more than 4 kilometres and has been covertly supplied to Syrian opposition groups since 2014.

“It is obviously an American weapon system. It is consistent, that lettering, with the TOW system,” security analyst and former counter-terrorism intelligence officer Charles Shoebridge told RT commenting on the photo and video evidence.

The US allies have supplied the anti-tank missile to rebel groups openly. “Hence it is unsurprising to find this weapon system in the hands of the rebel groups and being used by them.” Shoebridge added.

The TOW system was also used to attack the grounded Russian Mi-8 helicopter that participated in the operation to rescue the survived pilot of the Su-24 bomber shot down by Turkey on November 24, a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the US Secretary of Defense Michael Maloof told RT.