"There is continuous shelling using artillery, mortar and warplane bombs, " activist Abu Ali said.

CNN: Violence surges in strategic Syrian city

Development of the next generation of warplane is already over budget and behind schedule.

BBC: Joint Strike Fighter: Jet that's a 'spy in the sky'

It credited the Free Syrian Army with shooting down a government warplane in Adra.

CNN: Fighting intensifies in Damascus

One activist told Reuters news agency that the warplane had attacked the petrol station as a consignment of fuel arrived.

BBC: Syria: Deadly air strike 'hits Damascus petrol station'

In 1998, 19 people were killed when a low-flying US warplane cut the cable of a ski lift on the mountain.

BBC: Italy: Russian tourists die in snowmobile accident

Gen Dempsey also said it appeared that rebels had recently shot down a Syrian warplane, despite Damascus insisting that it had suffered a technical fault.

BBC: US says Iran training Syrian militia

She said one of two fliers who ejected from the stricken warplane was outside, that he was conscious and that she had already called for help.

CNN: 'Oh my God!' Callers recount Navy jet crash

Richard Fisher, Asian Security Studies Fellow here at the Center, challenges critics of the next-generation warplane in a letter in the April 12 Washington Post.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

"A MiG warplane shot down in Mouhassen!"

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

In other words, when the president talks darkly about the menace of property restitution claims by millions of Germans, it is the political equivalent of a warplane firing out chaff: a defensive distraction rather than a sign it is about to launch an imminent attack.

ECONOMIST: European politics