Syrian rebels use tank in rare move

2 Aug 2012, 8:22 pm   -   Source: AAP

An observer has said it is rare for Syrian rebels to use captured heavy weapons and an attack on an air base represents an escalation in the war.

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Syrian rebels have used a captured tank to bombard a military air base near Aleppo and the regime has unleashed new raids against opposition fighters near the capital Damascus, reportedly killing dozens.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Menagh military airport that was attacked had been used to launch attacks on rebel positions in the surrounding area.

It was not clear how successful the attack had been as the base was used for new attacks hours after the bombardment.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the observatory, said it was rare for the rebels to use captured heavy weapons and the attack represented an escalation in the war.

There is a huge disparity in armaments, with Syria's well-armed equipped with fighter jets, helicopter gunships and many vehicles.

Rebel forces in northern Syria attacked the country's largest city of Aleppo two weeks ago and have captured several neighbourhoods, mostly lower income areas on the periphery.

They have held onto the captured areas despite ground and air assaults.

With its proximity to rebel-friendly Turkey just to the north, Aleppo has enormous strategic importance.

If the rebels were able to capture and hold it, the city could form the kernel of a wider rebel-controlled zone.

"If Aleppo falls, then automatically we are going to establish headquarters at the presidential palace," said Burhan Ghalioun, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, late on Wednesday in Paris.

"There will be nothing more that will stand in the way of the Free Syrian Army. Hama, Homs to the outskirts of Damascus have in large part been liberated."

There was, however, heavy shelling earlier in the day around the town of Azaz on the Turkish border, which has been in rebel hands for weeks along with a checkpoint crossing in the area, making it easier to deliver rebel weapons and supplies to the Aleppo battle. It would be a huge blow to the opposition if the government retook the crossing.

In the capital Damascus, the regime on Thursday announced a string of raids against rebels in neighbourhoods on the southern edge of the city.

It said it had killed and arrested a number of "terrorists".

Operations also took place in the upmarket Muhajireen district close to the presidential palace in Damascus and 20 people were arrested, according to activist Abu Qais, based in the Syrian capital.

A rebel assault on Damascus was crushed two weeks ago in fierce fighting, but the latest raids show that pockets of resistance remain in the capital and the surrounding countryside.

Abu Qais said at least 20 people were killed by raids in the Yalda suburb, in the south, while the observatory reported 47 people had been killed in the Jdaidat Artouz neighbourhood to the southwest.

There has been international condemnation of Syria's handling of the 17-month uprising, which activists estimate has taken 19,000 lives.

A vote is set for Friday in the UN General Assembly on a resolution drafted by Arab League countries, telling Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and turn over power to a transitional government.

While the 193-member General Assembly has no legal mechanism for enforcing a resolution, an overwhelming vote can carry moral and symbolic power.

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