Rebel Attack on Syrian Base Kills At Least 150 Troops
Source: Wall Street Journal
DAMASCUS, Syria—At least 150 Syrian soldiers were killed this week in a rebel attack that leveled the main buildings at a large base outside Damascus, one of the single highest death tolls of government troops since the start of the armed uprising, according to military and security personnel with knowledge of the assault.
An Islamist group called Liwa Dera al-Asima, Arabic for Shield of the Capital Brigade, said it used basic hand tools to dig tunnels for almost six months under the Vehicles Administration building, which they said had been converted into a forward operating base for regime forces to shell rebels in the besieged eastern suburbs of Damascus. They then rigged it with explosives and blew it up.
"We don't have advanced weapons to attack this base, which is shelling eastern Ghouta every day, so we found another way to destroy it," said an activist from Harasta. Ghouta, the eastern suburb adjacent to Harasta, was the scene of a chemical-weapons attack in August that killed about 1,400 people and almost brought a retaliatory U.S. strike against the Syrian regime.
The Syrian military spokesman said rebels used the tunneling technique after several failed attempts to capture the base over the past two years. He said there were up to 500 soldiers at the base on the day of the attack and those who were "martyred" included a general, two brigadier generals, two colonels and other senior officers.
Read more: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304607104579212220888159000
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