Rebels battle Assad forces for key air base in northern Syria

Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — The regime of President Bashar Assad has been engaged in
an intense battle with rebels for control of a military base in northern
Syria.

Syrian Air Force plane.  /Reuters/Sana
Syrian Air Force plane. /Reuters/Sana

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a rebel
offensive in the northern province of Aleppo. The opposition monitoring
group said hundreds of Sunni rebels attacked the Syrian Air Force base at
Managh.

“At least 15 of the fighters have been killed,” Syrian Observatory said
on April 30.

The rebel offensive was meant to head off the Assad campaign to retake
key parts of the country. Since February, Assad’s military and security forces, backed by daily air strikes, reversed most of the rebel gains in northern and central Syria over the past six months.

Managh contains a fleet of Air Force helicopters, many of them used in
daily air strikes on rebel strongholds. Syrian Observatory said
Russian-origin MiG fighter-jets were bombing rebel positions around the
base.

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