Scores of Syrian soldiers, opposition fighters killed in battle for bases

Around 100 Syrian soldiers and 80 opposition fighters were killed during a two-day battle in which the fighters captured the government’s Wadi al-Deif military base in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Tuesday.

The Britain-based group said armed fighters including Al-Qaeda's Syria wing, the Nusra Front, on Monday took the base next to the country's main north-south highway linking Aleppo with Damascus. Fighters also seized the smaller Hamidiya base, southwest of Wadi al-Deif, the observatory said.

Around 120 soldiers were captured in the battle, reported the observatory, citing opposition sources.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report by the observatory, which says it tracks the conflict through a network of sources on both sides.

The fighters’ victory gives them a strategic advantage in that they can now cut off a vital supply route to regime forces in the Hama region. It also leaves the regime without any major military presence in northern Syria, save for the center of Idlib province, the town of Jisr al-Shoughour and the Abu Althohoor airport.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had previously managed to repel numerous attacks on Wadi al-Deif, which has been surrounded by opposition fighters for two years.

Syrian government officials were not available for comment. Syria's state news agency SANA said that the army had killed several "terrorists" in Idlib province.

SANA also said on Tuesday that the army had killed more than 60 "terrorists" from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group in the province of Deir al-Zor, hundreds of miles east of Idlib.

Syria's war started with a pro-democracy movement that grew into an armed uprising and has inflamed regional confrontations. Some 200,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the United Nations.

Al Jazeera and Reuters