Battle near Aleppo airport halts flights

The intense fighting underlined the rebels’ tenacity in the capital and around Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, but also the determination of President Bashar Assad’s regime to carry on fighting.

Activists say more than 45,000 people have been killed in the 22-month civil war.

In the past few weeks, rebels have stepped up their attacks on airports in Aleppo province, trying to chip away at the air power which poses the biggest challenge to their advances against Mr Assad’s forces.

The Syrian air force has been bombing and strafing rebel positions and attacking towns under opposition control, but the rebels have no planes or effective anti-aircraft weapons to counter the attacks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting around the base of Syrian army Brigade 80, part of a force protecting Aleppo’s airport, had led to the closure of the airport.

“Heavy fighting is taking place around Brigade 80,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman who heads the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists around Syria. “The airport has been closed since yesterday.”

The Syrian government had no comment on the closing of the airport. On Saturday, Syria’s national airline cancelled a flight to Aleppo because of fighting nearby.

Rebels have warned that they will target civilian as well as military planes using Aleppo International Airport, saying the regime is using civilian planes to bring in supplies and weapons.

The rebels have been attacking three other airports in the Aleppo area, including a military helicopter base near the Turkish border.

Rebels have posted dozens of videos online showing fighters shooting mortars, home-made rockets and sniper rifles at targets inside the bases.

Activists also reported heavy fighting in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.