Syrian Rebels Seize Infantry Base in Aleppo, Rebel Commander Slain

Second Base Lost to Rebel Offensives This Week

Syrian rebels with the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) al-Tawheed Brigade have announced that they have fully conquered the Hanano Barracks, a key infantry base and school in the northern city of Aleppo.

The group’s victory came with considerable cost, however, as the Tawheed Brigade’s commander, Col. Youssef al-Jader, was reportedly killed in the Saturday offensive.

It is the second Aleppo base to fall to rebels in the past week, after the Islamist al-Nusra Front captured a base on the outskirts of the city at the start of the week. The loss of the bases has rebels saying they are gaining ground.

Yet the Assad government has been increasingly lax on defending bases it believes are not strategically important, letting the rebels take them over with little struggle in hopes of spreading them thin, while concentrating their forces in the south and near the capital city.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.