Sunday, August 24, 2014

More than 500 dead in battle for Syria's Tabqa airport


Lebanon - More than 500 Syrian soldiers and Islamic State fighters died in a six-day battle for Tabqa airport, last stronghold of the Damascus regime in northern Raqa province, a monitoring group said Sunday.

"170 Syrian soldiers were killed on Sunday in the offensive which led to the IS jihadists seizing Tabqa airport," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in an e-mail sent to AFP.

It said 346 jihadists had died in the fighting at the airport since last Tuesday.