Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Sunni rebels continue to struggle against the Syrian Air
Force.

Opposition sources said Sunni rebels, despite gains in eastern and
northern Syria, remain vulnerable to air strikes by the regime of President
Bashar Assad. They said the rebels have failed to deter Syrian military
fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft from daily operations.

“The military has now begun using both aircraft as well as
surface-to-surface missiles to drive rebels out of from bases and strategic locations,” a source said.

Syrian aircraft has blocked several rebel attacks on major bases in
northern and eastern Syria. Over the last two days, rebel units came under heavy air-to-ground and surface-to-surface rocket fire around the military airport at Afis near the Aleppo-Damascus highway.

Rebels have long targeted Afis as well as other bases in the Aleppo
area. Afis, with more than 40 helicopter landing pads, has been deemed a leading launching pad for attacks on the rebels.

“This is the latest of several attempts to capture the base,” Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdul Rahman said.

The British-based Observatory cited the participation of Al
Qaida-aligned units in the attack on Afis, located in the northwestern
province of Idlib near the border with Turkey. They included the Al Nusra
Front for the Defense of Syria and Ahrar Al Sham Brigade, said to have
entered the base for several hours before withdrawing.

The sources said rebels have failed to acquire sufficient amount of
surface-to-air missiles to deter the Syrian Air Force. They said Syrian air
strikes have prevented the rebels from holding on to military bases and
other important assets.

“Because of the rocket strikes, the rebels could stay in a base for a
day, remove some weapons and flee before the next wave of aircraft arrive,”
the source said.

  Ahrar Sham Brigade, Al Nusra Front, Aleppo, Despite gains, military airport at Afis, Rebels struggle as Assad deploys air power to guard key sites, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights