Freedomlover
Minister (2k+ posts)
Islamic State fighters have seized the Tabqa military air base, the last stronghold of the Syrian army in Raqqa province, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes were still taking place on the outskirts of the airport on Sunday, but the facility was under the group's control and strewn with bodies of "dozens" of soldiers.
Syrian state television, meanwhile, reported the "evacuation" of the airport, citing a military source.
"After heavy fighting by the forces defending the Tabqa airport, our forces implemented a regrouping operation after the evacuation of the airport," state television said in a breaking news alert.
It added that army troops were launching "precision strikes" against "terrorist groups in the area, inflicting heavy losses".
Regime forces had repelled three previous attacks on the base. Warplanes backed forces on the ground and carried out six new raids on Sunday on different targets.
The air base is one of the most significant government military facilities in the area, containing several warplane squadrons, helicopters, tanks, artillery and ammunition.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Observatory, said the fighters had also seized several checkpoints, hanging up at one the head of a soldier who had been killed in the fighting and decapitated.
Bloody clashes
There was no immediate death toll in the latest fighting that began overnight, but at least 100 Islamic State fighters and 25 regime troops had been killed before the new clashes, the Observatory said.
The battle for Tabqa began earlier this month, with the Islamic State launching its first major assault against the airport on Tuesday. It is the last army stronghold in the Raqqa, after fighters captured Brigade 93 and Division 17 in the northern province, killing dozens of soldiers, many of whom were beheaded.
Raqqa province has become the stronghold of the Islamic State, which controls the provincial capital and has declared an Islamic "caliphate" in territory it holds in Syria and Iraq.
The group initially fought alongside Syrian opposition groups, but its abuses sparked a backlash from rebels who pushed it out of parts of northern Syria.
In recent weeks, though, the group has advanced back into areas it withdrew from, including northern Aleppo province. Elsewhere, however, the Observatory said Islamic State fighters were withdrawing from parts of central Homs province on Sunday.
The monitoring group said there was no official reason given for the withdrawal, but that the fighters appeared to be moving to areas under tighter Islamic State control, including Deir Ezzor province in the east.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middl...ate-syria-tabqa-base-2014824123659332825.html
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes were still taking place on the outskirts of the airport on Sunday, but the facility was under the group's control and strewn with bodies of "dozens" of soldiers.
Syrian state television, meanwhile, reported the "evacuation" of the airport, citing a military source.
"After heavy fighting by the forces defending the Tabqa airport, our forces implemented a regrouping operation after the evacuation of the airport," state television said in a breaking news alert.
It added that army troops were launching "precision strikes" against "terrorist groups in the area, inflicting heavy losses".
Regime forces had repelled three previous attacks on the base. Warplanes backed forces on the ground and carried out six new raids on Sunday on different targets.
The air base is one of the most significant government military facilities in the area, containing several warplane squadrons, helicopters, tanks, artillery and ammunition.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Observatory, said the fighters had also seized several checkpoints, hanging up at one the head of a soldier who had been killed in the fighting and decapitated.
Bloody clashes
There was no immediate death toll in the latest fighting that began overnight, but at least 100 Islamic State fighters and 25 regime troops had been killed before the new clashes, the Observatory said.
The battle for Tabqa began earlier this month, with the Islamic State launching its first major assault against the airport on Tuesday. It is the last army stronghold in the Raqqa, after fighters captured Brigade 93 and Division 17 in the northern province, killing dozens of soldiers, many of whom were beheaded.
Raqqa province has become the stronghold of the Islamic State, which controls the provincial capital and has declared an Islamic "caliphate" in territory it holds in Syria and Iraq.
The group initially fought alongside Syrian opposition groups, but its abuses sparked a backlash from rebels who pushed it out of parts of northern Syria.
In recent weeks, though, the group has advanced back into areas it withdrew from, including northern Aleppo province. Elsewhere, however, the Observatory said Islamic State fighters were withdrawing from parts of central Homs province on Sunday.
The monitoring group said there was no official reason given for the withdrawal, but that the fighters appeared to be moving to areas under tighter Islamic State control, including Deir Ezzor province in the east.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middl...ate-syria-tabqa-base-2014824123659332825.html
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