Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have launched an offensive in northern Syria.

Opposition sources said a coalition of rebel militias have attacked two Syrian military bases near the border with Turkey.

They said the rebels, flush with new weapons, sought to capture the Hamidiya and Wadi Deif military bases in the northwestern province of Idlib.

“Clashes are continuing in the Idlib countryside,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The British-based opposition group said the rebel offensive, dubbed “Earthquake,” was being conducted mostly by Islamist militias, including those aligned with Al Qaida. Syrian Observatory reported the participation of 25 brigades, including the powerful Liwa Al Umma.

“The fighters are battling in the vicinity of the bases,” Syrian
Observatory said on Oct. 9. “There is no word on casualties.”

The Syrian military has responded to the rebel offensive with air
strikes throughout Idlib. Syrian Observatory cited such military targets as
Deir Al Sharki and Marshamsha.

The offensive was the first by rebels amid international efforts to
dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. A team of nearly 100
inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has
overseen the destruction of the first CW munitions controlled by the Assad
regime.

Wadi Deif was said to have been the last Syrian military base in Idlib.
The sources said the base was believed to contain a large supply of weapons,
including surface-to-air missiles.

The sources said the rebels captured a senior officer at Hamidiya. He
was identified as Brig. Gen. Nasser Salah Eddin, a photograph of his
battered body posted on Facebook.

At the same time, the rebels have been pressed by operations sponsored
by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad around Damascus. On Oct. 9,
the sources said Iranian proxies loyal to Assad, backed by artillery fire,
captured a rebel-held suburb of Damascus and killed at least 20 fighters.

  Bashar Assad, Brig. Gen. Salah Eddin, Idlib province, Liwa Al Umma, predominantly Islamist rebels launch offensive in N. Syria, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Well-armed