New wave of air raids on key Syrian town
Syrian regime warplanes launched a new wave of strikes on Thursday on the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan, seized by rebels last week.
Syria Syrian regime warplanes launched a new wave of strikes on Thursday on the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan, seized by rebels last week, an AFP correspondent reported.
Fighter jets began overflying and bombarding Maaret al-Numan, located on the main Damascus-Aleppo highway, in the early hours of the morning, targeting the strategic town and its periphery.
The correspondent was unable to immediately confirm any casualties or damage from the air raids.
Anti-regime forces, who overran Maaret al-Numan on October 9 as they pushed to create a buffer zone along the border with Turkey, attempted to shoot down the aircraft with heavy machinegun fire, but without any success.
The bombing raids were punctuated by artillery and occasional rocket fire across the town, although these were less intense than witnessed over the past week.
Overnight, sporadic gunfire was also heard, including around a major military base at Wadi Deif, where the insurgents kept up a siege of about 250 troops holed up inside.
On Wednesday, rebels downed a helicopter gunship in Maarhtat, on the outskirts of Maaret al-Numan, according to both the insurgents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.