Al-Nusra Front 'capture Syrian army base'

Al-Nusra Front fighters and allied Syrian rebels say they have captured a major military base.

In this April 24, 2014, file photo shows a damaged street in the besieged Yarmouk refugee camp on the southern edge of the Syrian capital Damascus. (File: AAP) Source: UNRWA

Al-Nusra Front fighters and allied Syrian rebels have claimed another success in their offensive in the northwest of the country, capturing a major military base.

As the Qarmid base, just south of the provincial capital Idlib, fell to the rebels, activists said government airstrikes in the region had killed 73 civilians in 24 hours.

The strikes, following the fall of the key town of Jisr al-Shughur on Saturday, killed 54 people in the town of Darkoush alone, the opposition British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The rebels meanwhile posted videos and pictures online showing their fighters inside the Qarmid base.

They said the attack started when two Saudi suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to the base, paving the way for a full-scale assault.

The Observatory said the attack was carried out by forces of a joint rebel command called the Army of Conquest, including the al-Nusra Front, the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group and other mainly Islamist brigades.

The rebels have taken Idlib city as well as Jisr al-Shughur in their offensive and the groups are now turning their attention to remaining government bases in the area as well as pushing into the rich agricultural al-Ghab plain further south.