DAMASCUS, May 4-- The Syrian troops confronted Saturday the armed rebels trying to storm the Menagh airbase in the country's northern province of Aleppo, killing most of the assailants, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
The troops repelled the attack against the Menagh airbase, causing casualties among the assailants, SANA said, adding that the troops also clashed with rebels at the vicinity of Koerce base, another military airfield in Aleppo, and killed many of the attackers.
Earlier in the day, media reports said that a large number of armed rebels unleashed a wide-scale attack against Menagh, adding that several factions and battalions of the rebels partook in the attack.
Reports said the rebels have succeeded to storm the airbase from different directions and taken control over several parts of it.
The pro-government Sham FM radio citing sources at the base, however, denied the rebels' control over the base, saying that the troops managed to repel the attack but the leader of the airbase, Brigade Mahmoud Ali, and two of his escorts were killed in the battle.
The airbase has recently emerged as a major target of the Syrian opposition in the ongoing conflict.
It has been besieged by rebels since January.
