31 October 2015

General Mohammed Ahmed Faris, Hero of the Soviet Union - bombed by Russian Air force?

Quite an entertaining news item, courtesy of (not very reliable) Chechen funded Kavkaz Center.

It is confirmed that general Mohammed Ahmed Faris is one of the commanders of the secular armed group, the Free Syrian Army, which is being bombed by Russian planes. General Mohammed Ahmed Faris is a Hero of the Soviet Union in addition to the Order of Lenin, medal "Gold Star" and "For achievements in space exploration".

He is also the only astronaut in Syria.

General Mohammed Ahmed Faris traveled to space in 1987 as a member of a Russian-Syrian crew: he spent several months at the Mir space station along with Soviet cosmonauts, afterward training the pilots of the Syrian Air Force.

The matter of the good general's defection to FSA is not a secret, it happened in 2012 if the linked sources are to be believed.

The fact that, while officially fighting Daesh, Russians indulge in the side business of bombing FSA, among other Assad foes, is not a secret as well.

So - why not? Pourquoi pas, as they don't say in Russian?

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