Syria: Rebels launched attacks on 2 air bases
Syrian rebels launched deadly attacks on the military Saturday in a campaign increasingly targeting its air power, as President Bashar Assad’s traditional ally Russia said it was “naive” to expect him not to fight back.
Rebel fighters captured the main air defense building in Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border, the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said, adding that “preliminary reports” suggested they had seized ground-to-air missiles that could boost their ability to down government aircraft.
The assault late Friday came hot on the heels of a rebel attack on the Abu Zohur air base in Idlib province in the northwest, where the Free Syrian Army said it downed a MiG warplane shortly after takeoff earlier this week.