Syrian Rebels Claim Control of Northeast ‘Supply Route’ to Iraq

Artillery Base Means Reach Extends All the Way to Borders

by Jason Ditz, November 23, 2012

Following up on yesterday’s capture of a key artillery base in Mayadin, Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria are now claiming control over the entire northeast from Mayadin to the Iraqi border, terming it a vital “supply route” into Iraq.

“This is the last military base in the countryside. Now the territory is liberated all the way to the borders,” insisted one of the fighters, which if true would mean some very important, oil-rich territory is under their control.

The base had been under siege for weeks before the military pulled out, and with the military drawing back into regions closer to their own supply bases, the border regions are less and less under their control.

At the same time, that “liberation” from government control might not be the end of the story, with Syrian Kurds increasingly finding themselves in clashes with the rebel blocs over Kurd-majority cities in the area, and this could be a more difficult battle for them to tackle.

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