Saturday, September 1, 2012

Syrian rebels 'seize air defence base'


Fighters take anti-aircraft rockets and 16 captives in attack on air defence facility in east, says UK-based group

Reuters in Beirut
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 1 September 2012

"Syrian rebels have seized an air defence facility and attacked a military airport in the east of the country, according to a UK-based monitoring group.

Saturday's attacks in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zor follow rebel strikes against military airports in the Aleppo and Idlib areas, close to the border with Turkey.

The Syrian government has recently used helicopter gunships and fighter jets to attack rebels and residential areas.

Rebels in Deir al-Zor overran an air defence building early on Saturday, taking at least 16 captives and seizing an unknown number of anti-aircraft rockets, said Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Video posted on the internet by activists showed the officers and soldiers captured by the rebel fighters, and al-Arabiya television broadcast footage of what it said were rockets and ammunition seized in the raid....."

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