Syrians at air base hold off Islamic State attackers
BEIRUT — Syrian government forces repelled an attack by the Islamic State group on a major air base in the country’s east on Saturday, in fighting that killed dozens on both sides, activists and state media said.
The base, outside the city of Deir el-Zour, has been used by the government in the past months to launch air raids on areas held by the Islamic State bordering Iraq.
The Islamic State is trying to capture the air base and a nearby barracks known as Brigade 137 to eliminate the main pocket of resistance in the area.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest attack began Saturday with a suicide car bomb at the main entrance of the Deir el-Zour air base.
The rebels stormed parts of the base before a counterattack and air raids by government forces pushed them back, it added.
The group said some Islamic State fighters had breathing problems in the area after government forces used chlorine gas against them.
Syrian state TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops repelled attempts by “terrorists” on several areas near Deir elZour and killed “tens of them and destroyed their vehicles and weapons.”
The Islamic State began a major offensive on the air base, one of the last government-held areas in Deir elZour, on Thursday.
The Observatory said that since Thursday, more than 150 fighters have been killed, including 51 troops and pro-government militiamen.
It said at least 100 Islamic State fighters have been killed, including two French citizens.
Activists who support the Islamic State posted photos on social media showing two military helicopters they claimed were captured by the jihadis.
Earlier Saturday, state news agency SANA said the government’s air force was taking part in the operations at the air base, adding that it destroyed an Islamic State convoy consisting of five armored vehicles and four pickups mounted with heavy machine guns.
On Friday, Islamic State fighters captured the strategic village of Jafra near the air base.
In Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said a Lebanese army aircraft fired missiles Saturday on jihadi groups on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal, inflicting casualties.
The attack came a day after an al-Qaida-linked group in Syria said it had killed a Lebanese soldier it was holding captive.
The Nusra Front said it shot dead Ali Bazzal on Friday night in retaliation for the Lebanese government’s detention of the wives and children of militants.
Lebanese security officials last week said they arrested a wife and child of the Islamic State’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Authorities have also arrested the wife and two chil- dren of another Sunni militant commander in Syria, Abu Ali al-Shishani.
The Nusra Front and the Islamic State have been holding more than 20 Lebanese soldiers and policemen since August.
They have so far killed four of them.
Meanwhile, Canada’s top diplomat said Saturday that the country has no plans to follow the United States in expanding airstrikes against the Islamic State into Syria.
Foreign Minister John Baird said Canada has a responsibility to contribute to the U.S.-led bombing campaign in part because the Islamic State has attracted Canadian fighters to its ranks. But he said that support would be confined to Iraq for now.
“At this time we’re focusing on our current mission. … We’ll stick with Iraq,” he said at a security conference in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain.
Canadian warplanes launched their first airstrikes against militants early last month with attacks on targets near the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
The Canadian parliament in October approved up to six months of airstrikes after a request from the U.S.
The motion explicitly stated that no ground troops would be used in combat operations.
In Egypt, airport officials said authorities have enacted new rules that ban their countrymen from traveling to Turkey without a permit, a move intended to stem militant recruitment.
They said Egyptians ages 18-40 now need to apply for security clearance in central Cairo ahead of departure to Turkey. More than 200 people have been barred over the past 24 hours.
Interior Ministry spokesman Hany Abdel-Latif said the measure was an effort to prevent Egyptians from traveling through Turkey to join militant groups in Syria. Security officials estimate hundreds of Egyptians are fighting alongside militants in Syria and Iraq.
Airport officials said Egyptians already need prior permission to travel to Syria, Iraq and Jordan.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Information for this article was contributed by Adam Schreck and Merrit Kennedy of The Associated Press.