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Qaeda takes two Syrian bases in major blow to regime

15 December 2014 22:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Militants linked to Al-Qaeda dealt a major blow to Syria's regime on Monday by seizing two key army bases within hours, giving them control over most of Idlib province, APA reports quoting AFP.

The gains also signalled another defeat for Western-backed rebels who were driven out of most of the northwestern province last month by the jihadist Al-Nusra Front.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Al-Nusra Front -- the battered country's Al-Qaeda branch -- seized Hamidiyeh and Wadi al-Deif, the regime's largest outposts in Idlib.

The jihadists advanced in coordination with Islamist rebel groups Ahrar al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, the Observatory said, adding that a string of villages in the area also fell.

Al-Nusra Front claimed via Twitter it was "the only faction that took part in the liberation of Wadi al-Deif", and that it was now "chasing down" soldiers.

State television cited a military source as implicitly acknowledging the loss.

"The army redeployed this morning in the Wadi al-Deif region and is engaged in fierce fighting at Hamidiyeh," it reported the source as saying.

The attack on Wadi al-Deif, which began on Sunday, killed at least 31 troops and 12 jihadists, the Observatory said.

Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, a source from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement which had deployed fighters to bolster regime efforts in Idlib said "more than 3,000 (Islamist) gunmen" joined the twin offensive.

Mainstream rebels had been battling to take Wadi al-Deif and Hamidiyeh for around two years, but despite repeated attempts had failed to do so.