Syrian Free Army forces on Monday took control of a contested military air
base near the northern city of Aleppo as rebels captured four villages in the
heartland of President Bashar al-Assad’s minority Alawite sect.
The rebel army swept through the Menagh air base
hours after a suicide bomber detonateda car loaded with explosive
inside the base, reportedly killing a number of regime army troops.
The air base was besieged by rebels for about 10 months and has been a major
source of aerial bombardments carried out by regime fighter jets and helicopters
on rebel strongholds in the northern part of the country.