The Guardian
Link
Rebels including al-Qaida’s local affiliate have seized the Syrian regime’s largest remaining military base in north-western Idlib province, a monitor said.
The loss of Mastouma base on Tuesday leaves only a few positions in the province in regime hands, which lies along the border with Turkey and neighbours the government stronghold of Latakia province on the Mediterranean coast.
“All regime forces have withdrawn from Mastouma, the largest regime base in Idlib, leaving it completely in the hands of opposition fighters,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. He said the capture of the base followed a huge blast inside and heavy clashes, though the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
Al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front, a key player in the “Army of Conquest” grouping that has seized much of Idlib in recent weeks, announced Mastouma’s capture online. “With the help of God, Al-Mastumah was completely liberated after al-Nusra Front stormed it from the south,” al-Nusra said on its official Twitter account.
Abdel Rahman said regime troops withdrawing from the base were moving towards Ariha, now one of the last government bastions in Idlib. State television said the army was “taking defensive positions” outside Ariha, implying that army units had withdrawn from Mastouma itself.
The base’s capture comes after the rebel grouping, known in Arabic asJaish al-Fatah, seized Idlib’s provincial capital on 28 March and the nearby city of Jisr al-Shughur last month. They had edged closer to Mastouma, where regime forces fled after withdrawing from Idlib city. There was no immediate toll in the capture of the military base.
“IS killed five fighters from the national defence forces and one woman in their attack on the Druze village of Al-Haqef in Sweida province,” Abdel Rahman said.Elsewhere on Tuesday,Islamic State militants attacked a village in the Druze heartland of southern Syria, killing six people before local pro-regime gunmen expelled them.
State news agency Sana said the army and NDF “foiled an infiltration attempt by terrorists from Islamic State on the villages of Al-Qasr and Al-Haqef”.
To the north, fighting between Isis militants and government forces continued outside the historic town of Palmyra on Tuesday. “There are clashes at the western entrance of Palmyra this morning,” the provincial governor, Talal Barazi, told AFP.
On Sunday, regime forces pushed Isis out of the northern neighbourhoods of Palmyra, which it had held for less than 24 hours.
Barazi said he visited Palmyra on Monday, “going through 60% of the city on foot”, including the vegetable market and museum. He expected the situation to return to normal within a week. At least 40 rockets struck Palmyra on Sunday, he said, but government forces maintained control over key points, including the Islamic citadel overlooking the city.
Palmyra, whose archeological treasures are renowned worldwide, lies along major highways linking Damascus and Homs to the west, with the Syrian desert and the Iraqi border to the east. The Observatory reported fresh clashes north of the city and said the government had brought in reinforcements.
To the east, an air strike on a village in Deir Ezzor province killed at least eight civilians, including three children, the Observatory said.
Syria’s conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011 but has evolved into a multi-front war in which more than 220,000 people have died.
No comments:
Post a Comment