02/08/12

Rebels in Syria on Thursday bombarded the Menagh air base that was being used by helicopter gunships and other warplanes to attack the northern city of Aleppo, sources said.

“Menagh military airport was bombarded on Thursday morning by a tank captured previously by the rebels,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights  said of the base 30km northwest of the country’s commercial  capital.

An AFP reporter who heard and saw the bombardment said rebels told him it was “an attack to take this airport being used by helicopters and planes that are firing on Aleppo.

The United Nations confirmed on Wednesday that rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad’s regime now had heavy armour, and that its military observers had seen the Syrian military use a fighter jet to attack the rebels in Aleppo.

“The observers now have confirmed information that the opposition is in possession of heavy weapons including tanks in Aleppo,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters at UN headquarters.

AFP correspondents on the ground have reported that rebels have captured a number of tanks, and some armoured units have defected with their vehicles.