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Syrian rebels on continued their advance in the province of Hama and tried to destroy the regime’s military airport in the region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday.
“The rebels are now nine kilometers (six miles) away from Hama military airport, which they want to put out of action”, the monitor’s director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Yusef al-Hassan, a rebel leader in the region, said that the Hama military airport was crucial because “that is where the regime makes its barrel bombs, and warplanes take off from there to carry out air strikes on (opposition-held) areas across Syria”.
Several barrel bombs have killed hundreds of civilians in recent months, especially in rebel-controlled parts of the city of Aleppo.
According to the monitor, rebels have taken over a major checkpoint at Taribah to the north of Hama on Monday night; Hama city is firmly under the control of the Syrian government. On Sunday, a weapons depot was captured in the same area.
“The regime has suffered several defeats in Hama province in recent days”, Rahman said. He added that as the rebels have advanced, they have cut off the road connecting Hama city to several regime-controlled Alawite and Christian villages in the west of the province.
Yusef al-Hassan added that the regime is about to send reinforcements to the region.
“They are stepping up their troop presence here, which will limit the regime’s capabilities in other areas, such as Aleppo”, he said.
Regarding the military airport, Hassan added, “We are already striking it with Grad missiles”.
The Syrian air force has for months used barrel bombs manufactured at Hama military airport to cause great damage in rebel-controlled parts of Syria. Air strikes, including barrel bomb attacks, on Aleppo since December have cost the lives of several hundreds of civilians and have forced thousands to flee.
