Rebels make gains in Syria, capture army base

DAMASCUS, Syria, June 9 (UPI) -- A major Syrian army base was captured Tuesday by an alliance of Islamist rebels after 24 hours of heavy fighting.

A spokesman for the Southern Front, an umbrella group of fighters opposing the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, announced the base, known as Brigade 52 in the southern province of Deraa, was taken by 2,000 rebel attackers in a quick assault. The information was confirmed by a spokesman for Faylaq al-Awwal, a group in the coalition.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 rebel fighters and 20 government troops were killed in the assault, adding government soldiers retreated to the nearby town of al-Dara. SANA, Syria's state news agency, did not mention the surrender of the base but said at least 40 "terrorists" died in air strikes in the area.

The Southern Front has captured a number of Syrian government installations since a major offensive began in April. It took the provincial capital of Idlib in northwestern Syria and the Nasib border crossing into Jordan, while Islamic State fighters seized the strategic town of Tadmur, whose adjacent city of Palmyra hosts 2,000-year old ruins. The town of Mleiha al-Sharqiya, near Brigade 52, also fell to rebels on Tuesday.