Damascus takes key town from jihadists

BEIRUT: Syrian government forces recaptured a northwestern town on Thursday from around which jihadists and allied rebels have launched rockets on their Russian ally's key airbase, a monitor said.The capture of the town of Qalaat al-Madiq, on the southwestern edge of the jihadist-controlled Idlib region, comes after weeks of intensified air strikes and shelling by pro-government and Russian forces. Intense bombardment caused the jihadists and Islamist rebels to flee, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said."Rockets have been fired on the Hmeimim airbase" from the area around the town, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. The Russian airbase in the coastal province of Latakia has come under repeated rocket fire and Moscow has also accused armed groups of launching weaponised drones against it. In the latest attack on Monday, 36 rockets were fired at Hmeimim, but were intercepted without causing any casualties or damage, the Russian defence ministry said.

from The News International - World http://bit.ly/2DYhZ4G