Syria Says Army Breaks Through To Airbase Besieged By Islamic State

Troops fired into the air in celebration, he said.

Nusra Front positions were also hit in Hama province, destroying a base where the group’s armored vehicles were repaired.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said forces fighting on the side of the Syrian government, including Lebanese and Iranian militiamen, were trying to enter and secure Kweires air base, which has been under attack for almost two years.

A pro-opposition monitoring group confirmed that government forces had broken through to the base.

The Observatory, which relies on local activists, said troops advanced under the cover of Russian and Syrian airstrikes.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, ranking military official Ali Maghsoud said the army is going to raid the Kowaires airbase, near Aleppo, and recapture it from the terrorist groups.

Russian airstrikes have targeted an Islamic State munitions warehouse near the Syrian capital, Damascus, which hosted makeshift unguided missiles.

The Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful demonstrations in 2011, has spiralled into a multi-sided civil war that has cost more than 250,000 lives and driven more than 11 million people from their homes, according to United Nations figures.