Damascus, Sep 9 (IANS): The Abu al-Duhur air base -- one of the last bastions defended by government forces for the past two years against the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in the north-western Syrian Idlib province -- has fallen to the jihadi rebels, media reported on Wednesday.
The Syrian air force evacuated the besieged military air base after defending the airfield over the past two years, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Abu al-Duhur air base was one of the very few remaining government strongholds in Idlib, the rest of which have largely fallen to the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.
The rebels had laid siege to the airfield for over two years and supplies for the troops had to be air-dropped by helicopters.
The Syrian military forces have lost a large number of air bases across the country to jihadi groups, but essential equipment and other facilities in those air bases had been removed earlier by the air force.