IDLIB/ALEPPO, Syria
The Islamic Front, a Sunni rebel group, took control of Wadi Al-Dayf and Al-Hamidiyeh on Monday, two important regime army bases in Idlib, according to a press statement by the media office of the group.
“The regime forces had to retreat after the Nusra front and Ahrar ash-Sham movement's critical assaults on Wadi Al-Dayf,” according to the same statement. The base is located in Idlib’s countryside in northwestern Syria.
The regime’s forces retreated to the Al-Hamidiya base, located near the Wadi Al-Dayf base, said Yassir Abdullatif, a spokesman from the Islamic Front’s media office.
Al-Hamidiya base also fell in the oppositions control few hours later after Wadi Al-Dayf base.
“Over 20 of the regime’s soldiers were killed in attempt to control about ten barriers around the Al-Hamidiya base,” Abdullatif added.
The pace of fighting has intensified between regime forces and the opposition’s factions in a number of areas across Syria.
“The clashes between Assad’s regime forces and the Islamic Front have heated up in the Ardul Melah region located near Aleppo in northern Syria. Twelve fighters from the Islamic Front were killed during the clashes," according to Sheikh Jassem, a field commander from the Islamic Front.
“Assad’s forces are being supported by Shiite militants from Iran, Iraq, and Hezbollah,” Sheikh Jassem said.
Opposition forces in March 2011 began protests to topple President Bashar Al-Assad, a struggle that turned into a civil war in July of that year after the regime forces violently suppressed the demonstrations.
More than 190,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began, according to UN figures published last August.
Amnesty International said more than 10 million people have been forced out of their homes; and at least four million of them have become refugees, mostly in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.
www.aa.com.tr/en
