DAMASCUS: Syrian rebels said on Saturday that they had
launched a major assault against a northern airbase used to deploy
regime air power, on the eve of a crucial meeting to decide the future
of the opposition.
The attack on the Taftanaz base, from where helicopter gunships raid
opposition positions and rebel-held areas, comes after regime forces
this week launched an unprecedented wave of air strikes in a bid to
reverse rebel gains.
A video posted on the Internet said eight battalions were taking part
in the attack, including the radical Islamist Al-Nusra Front, and
showed a missile launcher mounted on the back of a pick-up truck firing
on regime positions.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC), a network of
activists on the ground, said an operation had begun “to liberate the
Taftanaz airbase”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based
watchdog, said “heavy fighting” had broken out near the base, in Idlib
province where rebels have made significant gains this week.
The rebels seized an air defence position at Duwila in Idlib earlier
on Saturday, killing an army officer and wounded eight rebel fighters in
the ensuing fighting, the Observatory said.
The rebels fled under attack from the air after seizing arms and ammunition from the post.
The rebels made other gains near Damascus by seizing a police
station, a municipal building and a hospital in the town of Douma,
northeast of the capital, after fighting that killed 21 soldiers, the
Observatory said.
The fresh clashes came as Syria’s political opposition prepared for
key talks starting Sunday in Qatar, where the United States (US) is
expected to push for a new umbrella organisation to unite the country’s
fractured regime opponents.
Reports have emerged that Washington will press for an overhaul of
the opposition and its main representative body, the Syrian National
Council (SNC), with long-time dissident Riad Seif touted as the
potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National
Initiative.
The SNC lashed out at US interference on Friday, accusing Washington of undermining the country’s revolt and “sowing the seeds of division” by seeking the overhaul.
Washington denied it was trying to interfere, insisting it was simply seeking to ensure that more voices were heard.
The rebels consolidated their hold on the area Friday by forcing
regime troops out of their last position, taking control of a key
crossroads where the roads to commercial hub Aleppo from Damascus and
from the Mediterranean coast meet.
Nationwide, 181 people were killed in violence on Friday, according
to the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics in
civilian and military hospitals for its figures.
It says more than 36,000 people have been killed since the uprising
against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule broke out in March 2011 as a
protest movement inspired by the Arab Spring before escalating into an
armed rebellion.