Syrian rebels have captured parts of a large army base in the country’s north, just west of the city of Aleppo, activists say.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels entered the sprawling Sheikh Suleiman base on Sunday afternoon, after weeks of fighting. The development indicates the rebels are strengthening their grip on northern areas near the Turkish border. Last month, they captured another large base near Aleppo.
Amateur videos released by activists showed fighters walking inside the base. The footage also shows rebels driving around in a captured tank and manning heavy anti-aircraft machine guns.
Meanwhile, the Syrian military carried out an air strike on suburbs of Damascus, the capital, as rebels clashed on the ground with soldiers on Monday, the Observatory said. “A fighter bomber carried out a raid on Daraya as rebels and soldiers fought on the ground, while artillery bombed Moadamiyet al-Sham,” it said, referring to two towns south of Damascus. The air force also overflew Eastern Ghouta, an area where rebels have set up rear bases amid its orchards, the Observatory said. The military has for several days bombarded rebel strongholds in the suburbs from ground and air, raising fears of a looming ground assault by the army to try to establish a secure cordon around the capital.
On the diplomatic front, Russia said plans for Syria’s political future should not be forced on it from outside, underlining its hostility to foreign pressure for President Bashar al-Assad’s exit and to Western backing for an opposition coalition. In a statement Russia “stressed that fundamental decisions about reforming Syria’s political system … must be made by Syrians themselves, without outside interference or attempts to force prepared recipes for socio-political development” on them. The US and its NATO allies have pressed for al-Assad’s departure as part of efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria, but Russia and China have blocked action against the Syrian leader at the UN Security Council.