BEIRUT: Syrian troops have repelled an attack by jihadists from the Islamic State group on a key military airport in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a monitoring group said yesterday.
Elsewhere, rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Al Assad blew up a tunnel near an ancient mosque in the northern city of Aleppo, as loyalists tightened the noose around opposition positions in the same province.
“Troops and pro-regime militia stopped the attack that Islamic State launched on the Deir Ezzor military airport,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding both sides suffered heavy losses. The jihadists had withdrawn to the edges of the base, a day after managing to seize a southeastern part of the complex.
The Observatory said more than 100 jihadists had been killed in fighting for the base since Wednesday when they launched a bid to take the airport.
Pro-regime forces also suffered heavy casualties, with some 59 troops killed, it said.
State news agency SANA said Syrian army units had “repelled an attempt” by IS fighters to attack positions at the base, but provided no further details. The Deir Ezzor base is a key regime outpost from which warplanes and helicopters mount raids on jihadist positions in several parts of the war-wracked country.
IS fighters control most of Deir Ezzor province, but half of its capital remains in government hands.
The oil-rich region lies between IS-controlled Raqa province and the border with Iraq, and is a key prize for the jihadist group which declared an Islamic “caliphate” straddling the two countries in June.
On another front, the army secured a fresh advance in Aleppo province, said the Observatory, adding troops killed at least 24 Syrian rebels and jihadists fighting northeast of the country’s second city. “The army... took Breij area northeast of Aleppo city,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
The advance meant the army was closing in on rebels in the east of Aleppo city. “There is a very real threat that the opposition’s supply route will be cut off,” Abdel Rahman said.
Meanwhile in the heart of Aleppo city, rebels blew up a tunnel near an ancient mosque, claiming to be targeting army positions, said the Observatory.
State television also reported the explosion, and said the rebels had blown up the Sultaniyeh mosque itself. The Observatory said the mosque was not damaged, but that 12 troops were killed in the blast.
Much of the Old City of Aleppo, home to multiple ancient religious and cultural sites, has been destroyed by more than two years of savage fighting.
The UN’s envoy to Syria will meet in Turkey with rebel leaders from Aleppo to discuss a possible freeze in fighting in the war-torn city, his spokeswoman said.
Staffan de Mistura “will travel very soon to Gaziantep (in Turkey) to discuss his plan with key rebel groups from Aleppo”, Juliette Touma said.
She did not specify when exactly the talks would take place.
De Mistura has been pushing efforts for ceasefires in limited areas of Syria to lay the groundwork for peace talks to resolve the country’s devastating civil war.
Speaking to AFP from Turkey, rebel leader Sobhi al-Rifai said: “We are ready for a meeting and for dialogue with anyone to discuss the Syrian issue.” But Rifai, who is part of major rebel umbrella organisation the Revolutionary Command Council, did not confirm whether his group or any other faction would meet the UN envoy.
Rebels in Aleppo city also do not include among their ranks any jihadists from the Al Qaeda affiliate Al Nusra Front, or from the Islamic State group.
De Mistura announced his plan to press for what he called a “freeze” in fighting in late October, after years of failed efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
Assad has previously said he is willing to discuss the plan and Aleppo, which has been divided into rebel- and regime-held territory since July 2012, has been cited as a possible starting point.
AFP
