E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Rebels Storm Hamidiyeh Army Post, Airbase
[An Nahar] Rebels pushed to consolidate gains in northwestern Syria on Saturday, storming a key army post and fighting for control of an airbase, a watchdog said.

Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Despoiler of Deraa...
forces meanwhile recaptured a neighborhood of the central city of Homs that had been held by rebels for most of the year after a fierce assault that sparked a humanitarian crisis.

In Idlib province, snuffies stormed the Hamidiyeh army post, paving the way for the takeover of the nearby Wadi Deif garrison, the Britannia-based watchdog said.

Fierce festivities between loyalist troops and thugs, mostly from the jihadist al-Nusra Front, erupted inside the base, where loud kabooms were heard.

Wadi Deif is one of the government's last outposts in the largely rebel-held north.

Near second city Aleppo, warplanes pounded rebel positions around the Menagh airbase, after rebels penetrated the perimeter on Thursday following a months-long siege, the Observatory said.

Air strikes and artillery fire were reported in several areas near Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
, including Daraya to the southwest, where festivities raged as the army pressed its bid to retake the town.

In Homs, troops overran the Deir Baalbeh, which was the target of a major army offensive in February that left 700 people killed, most of them civilians.

Nationwide, at least 81 people were killed in violence on Saturday, 43 of them civilians, the Observatory said.
Posted by: Fred 2012-12-30
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=359031