In this Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, photo, Syrian rebel fighter, Abu Muslim, 30, a former librarian, poses for a picture at a house where he and others wait their turn to go and fight against government forces in Aleppo, in Marea on the outskirts of Aleppo city, Syria. Syria’s rebels have turned to a new tactic of attacking bases, trying to stop the jets and attack helicopters that have wreaked devastation on their fighters and civilians in the battleground city of Aleppo and the nearby countryside. Abu Muslim became a specialist in rocket-propelled grenades during his military service a decade ago. He said in the tight confines of urban warfare, taking out the regime’s older tanks, wasn’t a problem.MAREA, Syria – Lt. Col. Maan al-Mansour’s mission is to capture the Syrian air base where he once served.
The 22-year air force veteran, who defected in June to the rebellion, led an attack by hundreds of fighters on the Kuwiras military airport last week. In a fierce battle, they hammered the base with mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades for four hours, nearly overrunning it until they were driven back by sustained strafing and bombing by jet fighters.
Al-Mansour says he’s determined to try again. Syria’s rebels have turned to a new tactic of attacking bases, trying to stop the jets and attack helicopters that have wreaked devastation on their fighters and civilians in the battleground city of Aleppo and the nearby countryside.
“We are going to destroy the place that causes all this destruction,” al-Mansour said. “The pilots inside are my friends and I like them, but they are on the wrong side, they destroy buildings with the innocent and children inside, so when I attack the airport, I think of them.”
Rebels drove the Syrian army out of the countryside north of Aleppo long ago and claim to control more than two-thirds of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, where they have battled to a standstill the regime forces trying for more than a month to uproot them.