Rebel seize key Aleppo army base

Syrian rebels captured parts of another large army base in the country's north, just west of the city of Aleppo, tightening the opposition's grip on areas close to the Turkish border, activists said yesterday, reports AP.
Elsewhere, the rebels killed 13 soldiers in an ambush near a strategic northern town along a road linking Aleppo with Damascus, activists reported.
Meanwhile, the European Union, winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, said at the award ceremony yesterday that the conflict in Syria was "a stain" on the world's conscience, reports AFP.
"Let me say it from here today," said European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso. "The current situation in Syria is a stain on the world's conscience and the international community has a moral duty to address it."
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels entered the Sheik Suleiman military base on Sunday afternoon, after weeks of fighting around it.
The development was a significant boost for the rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad and defeat his military.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads to Observatory, said the rebels who stormed Sheik Suleiman belong to hardline Islamic militant groups.
Abdul-Rahman told The Associated Press that fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra, Mujahedeen Shura Council and the Muhajireen group took part in the battle for the Sheik Suleiman base.
Fighting around Syria has intensified in the past few months. The uprising, which began with peaceful protests against Assad's regime in March 2011, has escalated into a civil war that has killed more than 40,000 people, according to activists.