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Video Shows Syrian Rebels Using a Massive Sandstorm To Capture an Air Base - [KARTTA]
Using a colossal sandstorm as cover, a coalition of Syrian fighters known as the Army of Conquest — which includes the al-Qaeda aligned Nusra Front —pushed government forces out of a major air base in northwest Syria, ending a three-year long siege.
As the fighters posted pictures of themselves standing among the planes and equipment in the Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib province, Syria state television reported on Wednesday that government troops had indeed "evacuated their positions and moved to another point," adding that the army had been "protecting the base" during a two year siege.
A propaganda video posted by the Army of Conquest late Wednesday showed fighters approaching the base under the cover of the sand storm, driving around in captured tanks, and standing inside abandoned planes. It's unclear if the captured equipment is in good working order, but the capture of the base appears to be significant victory for the Army of Conquest.
"Though the base has been isolated for a long while, to the east is the regime's supply line up to Aleppo," Aron Lund, a Syria researcher and editor of the Syria and Crisis page at the Carnegie Endowment, told VICE News. "This clears out the last obstacles harassing traffic along the road...the regime could be nervous about that."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=PApREzZA38w
In the video, a rebel narrator leads the camera though the capture of the base.
"Regime pigs are still there, we are going to get rid of them as soon as possible," one fighter says to the camera from inside the airport. "Our morale remains high... and there are lots of casualties on the regime's side."
The Army of Conquest had ramped up its offensive against the Abu al-Duhur base in late August, deploying suicide bombers to push regime forces away from the entrance.
Rebels moved forward over the last few days, as a sandstorm swept through the region, making it difficult for the Syrian air force to provide air support to the beleaguered outpost. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights observed a marked dip in airstrikes since the storm gathered force on Monday.
Over the past month, Syrian government forces had been pounding rebel-controlled areas of Idlib from the air. On Monday, Syrian army helicopters reportedly dropped barrel bombs in towns outside the city of Idlib. In early August, Doctors Without Borders reported that strikes had hit 9 different hospitals in the city of Idlib, killing 11 people and wounding 31.
https://news.vice.com/article/this-...ng-a-massive-sandstorm-to-capture-an-air-base
Using a colossal sandstorm as cover, a coalition of Syrian fighters known as the Army of Conquest — which includes the al-Qaeda aligned Nusra Front —pushed government forces out of a major air base in northwest Syria, ending a three-year long siege.
As the fighters posted pictures of themselves standing among the planes and equipment in the Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib province, Syria state television reported on Wednesday that government troops had indeed "evacuated their positions and moved to another point," adding that the army had been "protecting the base" during a two year siege.
A propaganda video posted by the Army of Conquest late Wednesday showed fighters approaching the base under the cover of the sand storm, driving around in captured tanks, and standing inside abandoned planes. It's unclear if the captured equipment is in good working order, but the capture of the base appears to be significant victory for the Army of Conquest.
"Though the base has been isolated for a long while, to the east is the regime's supply line up to Aleppo," Aron Lund, a Syria researcher and editor of the Syria and Crisis page at the Carnegie Endowment, told VICE News. "This clears out the last obstacles harassing traffic along the road...the regime could be nervous about that."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=PApREzZA38w
In the video, a rebel narrator leads the camera though the capture of the base.
"Regime pigs are still there, we are going to get rid of them as soon as possible," one fighter says to the camera from inside the airport. "Our morale remains high... and there are lots of casualties on the regime's side."
The Army of Conquest had ramped up its offensive against the Abu al-Duhur base in late August, deploying suicide bombers to push regime forces away from the entrance.
Rebels moved forward over the last few days, as a sandstorm swept through the region, making it difficult for the Syrian air force to provide air support to the beleaguered outpost. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights observed a marked dip in airstrikes since the storm gathered force on Monday.
Over the past month, Syrian government forces had been pounding rebel-controlled areas of Idlib from the air. On Monday, Syrian army helicopters reportedly dropped barrel bombs in towns outside the city of Idlib. In early August, Doctors Without Borders reported that strikes had hit 9 different hospitals in the city of Idlib, killing 11 people and wounding 31.
