WORLD_ Syria rebels 'capture key Aleppo air base'

6 August 2013 Last updated at 08:57 GMT

Syria rebels 'capture key Aleppo air base'
BBC


Rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have captured a key air base in Aleppo province, near the Turkish border, activists say.

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said rebels took Minnig airport early on Tuesday.

The opposition has been trying to capture the base since last year.

Rebels have also recently taken several villages in Latakia province, the heartland of President Assad's minority Alawite sect.

But loyalist forces have made recent gains too - in the cities of Damascus and Homs, and other areas of Aleppo.

As the battle at Minnig was raging, the government celebrated its own victory in the central city of Homs, as the defence minister toured the Khalidiyeh neighborhood which was recently retaken from rebel control.

Analysts say the capture of the Minnig base is a blow to President Assad because it deprives his forces of what was one of their main supply routes in Aleppo province.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the 28-month conflict in Syria, with a further 1.7 million Syrians forced to seek shelter in neighbouring countries, according to UN estimates.

Fierce fighting

The rebel attack on Minnig was led by several groups, including the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the SOHR said.

At least 10 rebels are reported to have died in the fighting, and some of the government troops are also said to have been killed, and others captured.

 On Sunday rebel forces also captured a series of Latakia villages, after attacking government outposts with anti-tank missiles in the Jabal al-Akrad hills.

The SOHR said troops and rebels had been engaged in fierce fighting in Latakia for two days.

The Latakia region represents the political heartland of the Alawites, who make up about 10% of Syria's Sunni-dominated population.

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Features and analysis analysis
Khalidiya 'setback, but no defeat'

Even if the Khalidiya district of Homs has fallen to the Syrian army, it does not mean the beginning of the end of the rebellion, says the BBC's Paul Wood.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23495733

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