Syrian Army Loses Control Over Last Airbase in Idlib Province - Watchdog

Sputnik News

15:16 09.09.2015(updated 15:26 09.09.2015)

Syria lost control on Wednesday of the last military airbase under government control in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the SOHR, Syrian government troops that had been defending the Abu al-Duhur airbase from rebel forces for almost two years, left the facility after a long fight with the al-Qaeda linked the Nusra Front and other Islamist factions.

On Tuesday, government forces repelled an attack against a military airbase southeast of the city of Idlib, planned by the Jaish al-Fatah alliance of rebel groups, dominated by the Nusra Front. The army destroyed a mined vehicle.

In late March, a coalition of rebel groups, including the Nusra Front, seized Idlib after five days of intensive clashes between militant groups and government forces.

In July, Jaish al-Fatah managed to seize a number of villages in the northern province of Hama.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting anti-government rebels and radical Islamists, including the notorious Islamic State militant group.

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