Rebels Mop Up Fleeing Assad Troops Around Wadi Al-Daif

Rebels ambushed a regime military convoy that was trying to flee the town of Maa’rhtat toward the town of Khan Shaykhun to the north, destroying many army vehicles and killing many pro-Assad militants. The ambush comes a day after rebels overran Wadi Al-Daif and Al Hamidiya army bases in southern rural Idlib. “Finally, Wadi Al-Daif fell. Syria’s brave hearts did it and captured the last regime’s bastion in southern Idlib province,” Mohammed Qaddah, vice president of the Syrian Coalition, said commenting on the rebels’ capture of the strategic army bases. Rebels cleansed the Wadi Al-Daif and the nearby Al Hamidiya bases of all pro-Assad’s militants after four days of intense fighting, capturing dozens of soldiers along with tanks, armored vehicles and ammunition. “With the capture of the two bases, many areas in rural Idlib will be spared death and destruction that was previously wrought on them by Assad’s forces stationed in these two bases. Moreover, rebels cut off supply routes used by Assad’s forces in rural Idlib.” Activists said dozens of pro-Assad militants were captured while trying to escape in civilian clothes. Rebels tightened the noose on the two bases, besieged for more than two years, after taking control of all the checkpoints surrounding them. This rebels’ major victory over regime forces comes after many failed attempts to capture the bases over the last two years. (Source: Syrian Coalition)