Syria loses two key bases to rebels
The Syrian army yesterday lost control of two strategic bases in the northwestern province of Idlib to coordinated assaults by Al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups, a monitoring group said.
Meanwhile, the EU backed UN efforts to arrange a ceasefire in Syria's second city Aleppo yesterday as one of the few good options left in a conflict which has claimed more than 200,000 lives.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said special UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura had briefed foreign ministers Sunday on plans for a "freeze" between government and rebel forces in Aleppo.
The aim is a limited local truce to help ease the desperate plight of the civilian population and provide some way forward after repeated efforts to end the war have failed.
European Union foreign ministers would look "at what we can do to concretely support the UN ... what we can do to stop the war in Syria," Mogherini said as she arrived to chair their regular monthly meeting.
With few other options open, "it is time to contribute positively to a solution," she said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in coordination with Islamist rebels of Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham, seized Hamidiyeh and Wadi al-Deif bases, the biggest regime positions in Idlib.
The Al-Nusra Front initially reported a lightning victory in Wadi al-Deif, putting large swathes of Idlib province, which borders Turkey, under jihadist control.
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