Following a two-year siege by Syria rebels Assad troops were forced to pull out of a major air base in northwestern Syria, state television admitted on Wednesday, increasing pressure on government-held coastal areas north of the capital.
A group monitoring the war said the Syrian military had been completely driven out of the northwestern province of Idlib after the fall of the base.
In a newsflash, Syrian state television said the army garrison that had defended the Abu al-Duhur military airport had evacuated the post.
The airport, which was one of the last remaining military strongholds in Idlib province, has been under siege for almost two years by rebels. Another major base east of Aleppo, Kweiris, is also besieged.
Rebels has made gains in northwestern Syria since May, seizing the city of Idlib, the town of Jisr al-Shughour and bringing them closer to government-held coastal areas north of the capital.
Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said members of a local pro-government militia remained in two Shi’ite villages in Idlib province but the army itself had withdrawn from the province.