The Marj al-Sultan air base lies in the eastern suburb of Damascus known as Eastern Ghouta, and had been held by rebels for the past three years.
The capture is a rare victory for the government in an area considered an opposition stronghold. It bolsters the government's hold over Damascus International Airport and splits rebel-held areas.
The capture was reported by Al-Manar TV, the channel of Leb's Shiite Hezbollah group, whose fighters are battling alongside Syrian troops under Russian air cover.
Pro-government websites and the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on activists inside Syria, also reported the capture of Marj al-Sultan on Monday.
Fighting on the ground in Syria has intensified even as the international community makes its most serious push yet to restart peace talks between
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's government and the rebels.
U.S. Secretary of State John F.
I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
is heading to Russia for talks aimed at narrowing gaps with Russian leaders over a political transition to end the country's nearly five-year civil war.
Before departing, Kerry attended a French-hosted foreign ministers' meeting in Gay Paree to compare notes on a conference of Syrian opposition figures held last week in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
.
As he headed into the meeting, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said last week's meeting in Riyadh was encouraging.