Syria says army breaks through to airbase besieged by Islamic State

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By Weedah Hamzah, dpa
Beirut (dpa) - The Syrian army Tuesday forced its way through Islamic State-held territory to relieve hundreds of troops besieged in an isolated air base for two years, state media reported.

A news flash on state television said troops had broken the siege of Kuweires military airport, east of the divided city of Aleppo.

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

Initial information that they had succeeded in opening a safe passage for the troops was as yet unconfirmed, Rami Abdel-Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

http://www.dpa-international.com/news/international/syria-says-army-breaks-through-to-airbase-besieged-by-islamic-state-a-47269627.html

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1. Syrian troops break siege imposed by IS on base since 2013

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Syrian state TV is reporting that government forces have broken a siege imposed by the Islamic State group on a northern military air base since 2013.

The report says government forces have met with troops that were defending the Kweiras air base in the northern province of Aleppo.

Syrian troops, backed by pro-government gunmen, launched a wide offensive to reach the base last month under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

Tuesday's push is a major victory for the government against IS that controls nearly half of Syria.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-11-10-10-41-48