IBTimes: Syrian sniper: US TOW missiles transform CIA-backed Syria rebels into ace marksmen in the fight against Assad
Syrian rebels wielding US-made anti-tank missiles have become YouTube war heroes after a surge in successful attacks on forces loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Use of the BGM-71 TOW missiles – which cost $50,000 a piece – is up over 850% in October with the American-made weapons responsible for the destruction of scores of Syrian army tanks. Charles Lister, a Syrian expert at the Brookings Institute, said there had been 82 uses of the missiles as of 20 October up from 13 in September.
Dozens of videos of Free Syrian Army and other rebel TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) snipers have appeared on YouTube with many receiving hundreds of thousands of views and hero status. In one video, rebels are seen calmly arming the huge rocket launcher and firing it from a bombed-out building at a Syrian army tank, which is then seen in flames.
WNU Editor: It would not surprise me if these operators, and the groups that supplied them with TOW missiles, are on the the top of the list for Russian - Syrian military forces to find and destroy.