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Summary Syrian rebels have launched an attack on Taftanaz base before crucial opposition talks.
Syrian rebels said on Saturday they had launched a major assault on a northern airbase used to deploy regime air power, on the eve of a crucial meeting to decide the future of the opposition.The attack on the Taftanaz base, from where helicopter gunships raid opposition positions and rebel-held areas, comes after troops launched an unprecedented wave of air strikes this week in a bid to reverse rebel gains.A video posted on the Internet said eight battalions were taking part in the attack, including the radical Islamist Al-Nusra Front, and showed a missile launcher mounted on the back of a pick-up truck firing on regime positions.The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground, said an operation had begun to liberate the Taftanaz airbase.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, said heavy fighting had broken out near the base in Idlib province, where rebels have seized new ground this week.Analysts said the assault came as rebel forces clearly have the momentum in the battle for Syrias northwest.The rebels gains in the north seem irreversible, said Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at the University of Edinburghs Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies department.He said regime forces appeared to be concentrating their efforts in the region on defending embattled commercial hub Aleppo, which rebel advances in the past month have cut off from Damascus and the Mediterranean coast.The problem with this strategy is that the Aleppo garrisons are now largely isolated. It is likely they will fall in the months to come, he said.The fresh clashes came as the opposition prepared for key talks starting Sunday in Qatar, where the United States is expected to push for a new umbrella organisation to unite the countrys fractured regime opponents.Reports have emerged that Washington will press for an overhaul of the opposition and its main body, the Syrian National Council (SNC), with long-time dissident Riad Seif touted as the potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative.In a statement from Amman, a group of opposition figures including Seif sought to quell concerns the overhaul is aimed at building an opposition that would be willing to negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad.Assad and his entourage leaving power is a non-negotiable precondition for any dialogue aimed at finding a non-military solution, if that is still possible, the group said after talks in the Jordanian capital.The Amman meeting also came out in support of efforts underway to put in place a unified political body for the whole of the opposition.The SNC lashed out at alleged US interference with the opposition on Friday, accusing Washington of undermining the countrys revolt and sowing the seeds of division by seeking the overhaul.
