BEIRUT: Around 100 Syrian soldiers and 80 fighters were killed during a two-day battle in which insurgents captured the Wadi Al-Deif military base, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Tuesday.
The Britain-based group said Islamist insurgents including Al-Qaeda’s Syria wing, the Nusra Front, on Monday took the base next to the country’s main north-south highway linking Aleppo with Damascus. Fighters also captured the smaller Hamidiya base, southwest of the Wadi Al-Deif, the Observatory said.
The group said that around 120 soldiers were captured in the assault, citing insurgent sources.
Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had previously managed to repel numerous attacks on Wadi Al-Deif in Idlib province, which has been surrounded by insurgents for two years.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report by the Observatory, which says it tracks the conflict through a network of sources on both sides.