US-Backed Rebels Seize Southern Syrian Army Base, 78 Killed

War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported that a key Syrian Army base in the Daraa Province has fallen to the US-backed Free Syrian Army rebel faction, whose Southern Front group has been fighting out of neighboring Jordan.

Issam al-Rayyes, the spokesman for the FSA, claimed that the base was taken after a six-hour battle, and that 67 Syrian soldiers were slain in the fighting. 11 FSA fighters were also reported killed in the raid, which routed the Brigade 52 site.

This is the latest in a series of major losses by the Syrian military nationwide, with recent losses in Idlib Province to al-Qaeda forces and losses in Palmyra to ISIS. With losses all across the nation, Syria’s government has less and less territory remaining.

The base marks a rare victory for the US-backed rebels in Syria, who control only a handful of villages around Daraa, depending on Jordanian support for control over the border region. Al-Qaeda also has a significant presence in the area, but has thus far avoided direct fighting with them.