| Rebels target air base in battle against aerial bombardment in Syria - CNN International Nov 3rd 2012, 14:46  A mannequin used by rebel fighters as a decoy is seen in an area where clashes continue with pro-government forces in Aleppo on Friday, November 2. Click through these photos from October and November; also see September photos from the conflict.  A member of the Free Syrian Army runs for cover from sniper fire in Aleppo on Friday.  Members of the Free Syrian Army stand close to an unexploded bomb dropped by a fighter jet weeks earlier, at a checkpoint in Aleppo on Thursday, November 1.  Buildings lie destoryed by what activists say were missiles fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Erbeen, near Damascus on Thursday.  The Suleiman al-Halabi neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, is now under full army control, according to state media. Heavy damage can be seen on Tuesday, October 30.  The Armenian Surp Kevork Church (Saint George Church) in Aleppo shows damage on Tuesday from a fire that broke out during fighting between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces.  The streets are littlered with rubble from a building in Aleppo on Tuesday.  A Syrian rebel fighter looks at smoke billowing from a bus that caught fire after a regime sniper allegedly shot at it in Aleppo on Sunday, October 28.  A Syrian rebel fighter aims through a hole in the wall that overlooks a position held by troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.  Commander Abu Sleiman looks at the pro-Syrian government forces' position prior to an attack in Aleppo on Saturday, October 27. The latest reports of violence saw each side accuse the other of violating the conditions of a cease-fire called over religious holiday Eid al-Adha.  A Syrian rebel interrogates a handcuffed and blindfolded man suspected of being a pro-regime militiaman after he was detained by the Free Syria Army in Aleppo on Friday, October 26.  Syrian rebels take position Friday in a classroom at an empty school to observe the movement of regime forces nearby in Aleppo.  Syrian rebels run to take position in the Bustan al-Basha district in Aleppo on Friday.  Smoke rises from a gas station following a mortar attack as Syrian women walk by on a rainy day in Aleppo on Thursday, October 25.  A member of the Free Syrian Army watches for snipers during fighting against pro-government forces in Idlib Governorate on Thursday.  A family crosses a street flooded by heavy rains in Aleppo, Syria, on Thursday.  Syria drivers attempt to drive through a flooded street in Aleppo, Syria on October 25. The Syrian military and the country's main rebel force have agreed to halt combat operations starting Friday morning for the Muslim holiday weekend, but both also reserved the right to respond to attacks.  Members of the Free Syrian Army patrol an area under their control, as they advance on pro-government forces in Harem town, Syria on October 25.  People crowd around a bakery in the Salaheddin district of Aleppo, Syria, on October 25,  Civilians carry their belongings along a street strewn with garbage and debris following fighting between Syrian government troops and rebel fighters in the Salaheddin district of Aleppo, Syria, on October 25.  The Syrian Arab News agency (SANA) reported that a car bomb in the Tadamon neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, killed six people and injured 20 on Wednesday, October 24.  Cars destroyed by the car bomb explosion in Damascus on Wednesday.  Smoke rises after Syrian government forces shelled the outskirts of Atareb, Syria, on Wednesday.  A family drives through Atareb, Syria, which was recently shelled by Syrian government forces, on Wednesday.  Relatives of Syrian detainees who were arrested for participating in protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime wait in front of a police building for detainees to be released in Damascus on Wednesday. The Syrian government said it released a total of 290 prisoners who had not been involved in homicides.  A Syrian woman, displaced by the ongoing violence and living along a street in Aleppo, on Tuesday, October 23.  A woman sits on the sidewalk of a debris strewn street in Aleppo, Syria, on October 23.  A rebel fighter looks towards the crossroads, destroyed during fighting between government and rebel forces, in the Salaheddin district of Aleppo, Syria on October 23.  Rebel fighters have lunch in the old sector of the northern city of Aleppo, on October 23. Violence raged across war-torn Syria, a watchdog organization said, dimming hopes of a cease-fire for this week's Muslim Eid al-Adha as proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.  A shopkeeper clears the rubble from in front of his store in the old sector of Aleppo.  A member of the Free Syrian Army flees sniper shots from pro-government forces in Salqin, Syria, on Monday, October 22.  Members of the Free Syrian Army celebrate on a tank that belonged to pro-government forces after they took over the site from them early Monday in Salqin.  A member of the Free Syrian Army celebrates on the captured tank.  Syrian army soldiers run for cover during clashes with rebel fighters in the Karam al-Jabal neighborhood of Aleppo on Saturday, October 20.  Syria youths react following an airstrike by Syrian government forces in Maaret al-Numan on Thursday, October 18. Syrian regime warplanes launched a new wave of strikes on the northwestern town, seized by rebels last week, an AFP correspondent reported.  A wounded Syrian boy is carried to the hospital following Thursday's airstrike in Maaret al-Numaan.  A Syrian rebel fighter mans an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun as he heads to the frontline in al-Bab near Aleppo on Wednesday. October 17. Rebels downed a helicopter in fierce fighting Wednesday with troops seeking to retake a key Syrian town, a watchdog said.  Syrian rebel fighters on Wednesday ride a motorcycle in Maaret al-Numan, an area under the control of rebel fighters in the northwestern Idlib province.  A Syrian rebel fighter holds a gun as he guards a post during clashes with government forces in Aleppo on Wednesday.  A handout photo from the Shaam News Network shows smoke rising after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet fired missiles at the suburbs of the northern province of Idlib, Syria, on Tuesday, October 16. Click through the gallery to view images of the war-torn country in October. See photographs from September.  Members of the Free Syrian Army check for snipers in the old part of Aleppo, Tuesday.  Damaged buildings are seen after they were fired upon by a Syrian government forces near the northern province of Idlib, Tuesday.  A Syrian man walks past destroyed buildings following shelling by regime forces in Aleppo on Monday, October 15.  A Free Syrian Army fighter climbs under barbed wire as he trains at their camp in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib in an area under the control of rebel fighters on Monday.  A young fighter climbs along a rope as he trains at a Free Syrian Army camp in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib on Monday.  Syrian rebels take cover during clashes with regime forces at the historic Umayyad Mosque in the old city of Aleppo hours before the Syrian army retook control of the complex on Sunday, October 14.  A Syrian rebel walks inside a burnt section of the Umayyad Mosque. Opposition activists reported that the 12th-century mosque was set afire during heavy fighting on Saturday, October 13.  A Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on Thursday, October 11.  Syrians carry a wounded girl into a hospital in Aleppo on Thursday.  A heavily armed Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on Thursday.  A Syrian man walks through rubble in Aleppo on Thursday.  A Syrian man and boy ride a horse cart in Aleppo on Thursday.  Smoke billows from buildings following shelling by government forces in Aleppo on Thursday.  Syrian people carry bread as they walk in the streets of Aleppo on Thursday.  Bodies of Syrian civilians lie in the back of a truck outside a hospital following shelling by Syrian government forces during clashes with opposition fighters in Aleppo on Thursday.  Syrian civilians walk in front of damaged buildings in Aleppo on Thursday.  Syrian opposition fighters walk in the streets of Aleppo on Thursday.  Syrian government forces take cover during clashes with rebel fighters at the Karam al-Jabal neighborhood in Aleppo on Thursday.  A Syrian opposition fighter flashes the sign for victory as he guards a post with his comrades in Aleppo on Thursday.  A Syrian man mourns the death of his father, who was killed during a government attack in Aleppo on Wednesday, October 10.  Syrian youths walk past graffiti in the rebel-held city of Minbej on Wednesday.  A Syrian rebel fighter holds a cigarette and prayer beads in Aleppo on Tuesday, October 9.  A Syrian man carries the body of his 5-year-old son, Mohammed Mustafa, outside a hospital after shelling by Syrian government forces in Aleppo on Tuesday.  An injured Syrian woman rides to a hospital after an airstrike by regime forces in Aleppo on Tuesday.  A Syrian rebel commander prays in a damaged mosque during clashes with government forces on Tuesday in Aleppo.  A rubble-filled street is seen during clashes between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces in the Saif al-Dawla district of Aleppo on Tuesday.  Relatives wheel a injured boy outside a hospital on Tuesday in Aleppo.  A Syrian rebel fighter takes position inside a house in Aleppo during clashes with government forces on Tuesday.  A Syrian man watches an army fighter jet flies over Aleppo on Monday, October 8.  A Syrian army fighter jet flies over the northern city of Aleppo on Monday.  A wounded Syrian rebel fighter holds his blood-stained hands as he receives treatment at a hospital near the frontline in the city of Aleppo on Monday, October 7.  Abdul Razzak from the Aleppo News talks on a walkie talkie in Aleppo on Monday.  Syrian rebels take up positions inside a building during clashes with government forces in Aleppo on Saturday, October 6.  Syrian members of the Al-Saiqa rebel brigade clean weapons on Saturday before going to the front line in Aleppo.  A Syrian rebel runs across a heavily damaged street to dodge sniper fire during clashes on Saturday.  Syrian rebels patrol a neighborhood in Aleppo on Friday, October 5.  A Syrian demonstrator shouts during an anti-regime protest in Aleppo on Friday. Tensions rippled across Turkey a day after Syrian shells struck a Turkish border town and killed five people.  A Syrian rebel takes position during clashes with government forces in Aleppo on Friday.  An injured Free Syrian Army fighter rests after receiving treatment at Dar al Shifa hospital in Aleppo on Thursday, October 4.  A child covers his wounds from a Syrian army sniper at Dar al Shifa hospital on Thursday.  A Free Syrian Army fighter cries after one of his friends was injured in fighting with government forces outside the Dar El Shifa hospital on Thursday.  A Dar El Shifa worker cleans the floor outside the hospital in Aleppo on Thursday.  Syrian rebel fighters look at a multirocket launcher in Tal Abyadh, a Syrian town close to the Turkish border, on Thursday.  Rebels climb the stairs of a destroyed building Thursday in Tal Abyadh.  Smoke rises from the explosion area after several Syrian shells crashed inside the town of Akcakale in Turkey, killing at least five people on Wednesday, October 3. It wasn't the first deadly cross-border incident between the two neighbors during the 18-month-long uprising in Syria.  A police officer is injured in Wednesday's attack on Akcakale in Turkey's Sanliurfa province.  Three car bombs destroyed the area around a military officers' club and a hotel in Aleppo, Syria, on Wednesday. At least 40 people were killed and 90 wounded, most of them soldiers, a monitoring group said.  Car bomb explosions on Wednesday left a crater in the ground.  A nurse helps treat a 7-year-old girl who's neck was badly wounded by shrapnel at the Dar Al Shifaa hospital in Aleppo on Monday, October 1.  Friends lay a rebel fighter on a gurney after he was shot in the chest during heavy battles in the Midan neighborhood on Monday. See photographs from September. - NEW: Rebels attack Taftanaz military air base, say they have it surrounded
- NEW: State media report that the air base attack was repelled and rebel fighters killed
- NEW: Government planes bomb towns in northerly Idlib province, opposition says
- Opposition: Damascus suburb sees nine air strikes in less than two minutes
(CNN) -- Rebel fighters in Syria sought to move against the government's increasing use of deadly air power Saturday, with an attack on the Taftanaz military airport in the northerly Idlib province. An opposition activist in the north told CNN the air base was surrounded and that about 200 regime troops were thought to be inside. The rebel Free Syrian Army intends to hold the perimeter of the base, he said. Government media confirmed the attack but claimed to have heroically repelled it, killing "large numbers of terrorists," as it terms the rebels. The state-run news agency, SANA, said the rebel fighters' weapons and vehicles also had been destroyed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based activist group, said only one opposition fighter had died in the push. Government fighter jets have become fixtures in the skies over Syria, swooping over embattled cities, strewing lethal ordnance by the bushel onto neighborhoods below. Many are heavy bombs detonating into towering mushroom clouds that blow through cities as gritty fog and spread in videos across the internet. The Taftanaz military airport, which takes up the space of a small city on a map, is near frequent targets of air strikes, such as Idlib, Taftanaz and Saraqib, which rebels said they took control of Friday. Aleppo is also within its range. Its multiple helicopter pads, which have the appearance of clover leaves from above, and its airplane landing strip are easily visible on conventional Internet satellite map views south of the city of Taftanaz. The opposition activist in the north said the FSA had also taken a key military base known as Kfar Takarim near El-Dwelah, near Idlib. The towns of Taftanaz and Taoum, also in Idlib, are being hit by shelling but don't have many people left in them, he said. Binnish is also being shelled by regime forces, he said. The town has become home to many refugees, so there are casualties there, he said. Binnish had been largely spared in the past months because of a truce between the rebels and regime, which collapsed about 20 days ago, for reasons that are unclear. Air raids in Idlib province accounted for 10 of the 18 lives lost Saturday to violence across the country, according to early reports from the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. LCC spokesman Hamzeh Abu Hussam, in Binnish, told CNN that government air forces were bombarding civilian areas in nearby towns as punishment against civilians for the FSA offensive on the airport. Hamzeh Abu Hussam is his nom de guerre. He said bombs and shells had leveled 30 houses there, killing seven, including four children. It is unclear if his claims are included in the LCC's official report. A Damascus suburb suffered nine air strikes in less than two minutes Saturday, according to opposition groups working to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Clashes on the ground also ignited again Saturday in Damascus suburbs and in Aleppo, perpetuating the 19-month conflict, which has taken more than 35,000 lives, according to the opposition Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria. CNN cannot confirm the claims by the government or the opposition because of government restrictions that prevent journalists from reporting freely within Syria. CNN's Kareem Khadder contributed to this report  |  |
