Syria Kurds capture airbase from rebels in Aleppo province

Kurdish fighters and allied militias have captured a Syrian airbase from jihadist militants in the northern province of Aleppo, a monitor group reported on Thursday.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the allied Jaish al-Thuwar, or the Revolutionist Army, managed to capture the town of Menagh and an old airbase inside the town in the northern countryside of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The London-based group, which says it relies on activists on the ground inside Syria, said the capture of the town and its airbase came after intense battles between the YPG and radical groups, which had been in control of the town since 2013.

The Observatory said warplanes, believed to be Russians, aided the Kurds in their push to capture the airbase.

Other activists said the fall of the airbase and the town to the Kurds came also through an indirect cooperation with the Syrian army.

The airbase, home to the 4th Flying Training Squadron, had been equipped with MBB 223 Flamingo training aircraft and Mi-8 helicopters.

The latest development came as the Syrian army makes strides against jihadist groups in the northern countryside of Aleppo, as part of a major offensive to close the borders with Turkey, from which many militants and much of their supplies allegedly come from. Endit