Islamists Join Syrian Rebels in Military Airfield Attack

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Dana El Baltaji - Jan 2, 2013

Syrian rebels, including an Islamist group branded a terrorist organization by the U.S., engaged in “intense” clashes with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces at a military airfield in the northern region of Idlib.

Opposition fighters appeared to be attempting to storm the Taftanaz airbase following heavy shelling, according to an e- mailed statement from the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The intense clashes left at least four rebels dead and one helicopter damaged, the observatory said. The opposition group said Jabhat al-Nusra, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. last year because of ties to al-Qaeda, had joined the attack.

Assad’s military lost barracks, airfields, heavy weaponry and oilfields across the country during the last quarter of 2012. Fighters engaged in a 22-month struggle to topple the government in Damascus also have control of mainly Sunni Muslim towns and suburbs stretching from the northeast outskirts of the capital to the southwest of the city.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-02/islamists-join-syrian-rebels-in-military-airfield-attack.html

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Assad’s military lost barracks, airfields, heavy weaponry and oilfields across the country during the last quarter of 2012.

Yep, these fellows are collecting some of the 'good stuff' that we shall see used in other parts of the world for years to come...

[Igel]

1. They leveraged gains in material in Libya to help in Syria.

And in Mali.

I wonder if they'll find it as easy to get the stuff out of Syria, or if they're going to have their hands full there and need it. Syria isn't Mali.