Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have recently broken through a two-year siege of an airbase in northern Syria by Islamic State militants.
After being holed up for two years, Syrian military personnel, numbered in the hundreds, finally gained their freedom at the Kweires airbase and could hardly contain their gratefulness.
“We dedicate this victory to President Bashar al-Assad and we promise him we will continue fighting until all of Syria is liberated,” one of the soldiers from the airbase said, according to Reuters. “We will not kneel to Daesh.”
The victory is high impact.
“Taking this airport back from siege means they can advance to ISIS areas,” Rami Abdurrahman, head of London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told CNN. “They can use it to shell areas around Aleppo.”
Government forces killed “hundreds of ISIS terrorists and destroyed their dens and cells with all weapons inside,” according to reports from the state news agency SANA. The operation to break the siege has been in the works for some time and was precipitated by a troop buildup in the region. Hezbollah fighters and Russian air strikes tipped the balance of power against ISIS forces.
Assad congratulated the head of the airbase for his steadfastness. During the siege, families of the soldiers protested to urge the government to step up efforts to free the soldiers.
During the assault on ISIS militants, government forces also recaptured villages in the eastern part of Aleppo. The intense focus on Aleppo comes after ISIS made serious gains in the region last month. Government troops were forced to increase operations.
Elsewhere, shellfire from the rebels struck the coastal city of Latakia near Teshreen University, which is out of normal reach of the conflict, and killed approximately 22 people. The area is home to a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect.
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